The ICJ may hear Iran’s case in an effort to end sanctions imposed by the Trump administration in 2018.
The United Nations Supreme Court has ruled that it will hear a case brought by Iran against the United States in a bid to halt sanctions imposed by the Trump administration in 2018 after it withdrawal from an international treaty aimed at banning Tehran’s nuclear program.
A majority of a panel of 16 judges on Wednesday found that the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the world court, has jurisdiction in the controversy.
Lawyers for the U.S. argued at hearings last year that the case should be thrown out by the ICJ for lack of sovereignty and licensing but court president Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said judges rejected the arguments of the USA that Iran could not establish bids at the ICJ on the 1955 bilateral friendship treaty.
Judges found the treaty, signed decades before Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the sharp decline in the U.S., was used as the basis for court jurisdiction.
“The court unanimously rejects the initial objections to its sovereignty raised by the United States of America on the grounds that the subject matter of the dispute does not relate to the interpretation or implementation of the Treaty of Amity,” Yusuf said.
Other U.S. protests over the case were also rejected, meaning Iran’s claim will now proceed to a merit hearing.
A final decision is likely to take several years.
Iran took issue after 2018 – President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions after its decision to waive the 2015 treaty under which Iran accepted invitations to its nuclear program.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif cited Wednesday’s decision as another legal consequence for Iran.
Iran has always had full respect for international law. A high time for the US to comply with its international obligations, ”he wrote.
Iran’s foreign ministry ruling Saeed Khatibzadeh said: “The use of international legal instruments is part of Iran’s Islamic Republic government and foreign ministry in affirming the rights of Iran’s honorable people on the international scene. “
The decision comes as new U.S. President Joe Biden seeks to raise diplomacy toward Iran while Washington looks at restrictions on the country’s renewed nuclear program and renewing the regional secrets.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken appointed a new special ambassador for Iran on Friday as Biden’s national security adviser said border renewal on Iran’s nuclear program is a top administrative priority.
The management of the ICJ is binding, but has no power to enforce them. The US and Iran are among a few countries that have taken note of their decisions.
The court was set up by the UN after World War II to rule in disputes between member states.