SHAFAQNA – Iran Takes U.S. to Court Over Nuclear Deal and Reimposed Sanctions in late july. The Iranian lawsuit asked the International Court of Justice, which is based in The Hague, to order the United States to terminate the 8 May sanctions without delay. The lawsuit also demanded that the United States compensates Iran for financial damage already done by the reimposed sanctions.
Iran argues US sanctions violate terms of a 1955 friendship treaty between two countries . On Wednesday 3 October 2018, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will deliver its Order on the request for the indication of provisional measures made by Iran in the case concerning Alleged violations of the 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights.
A public sitting will take place at 10 a.m. at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, President of the Court, will read the Court’s Order.
Trump ordered the nuclear sanctions reimposed on May 8 as part of an announcement withdrawing his government from the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated by Iran and major powers, including the United States, under the Obama administration. In reimposing the sanctions, the Trump administration has warned other countries that they risk American penalties if they continue to do business with Iran, including purchases of oil, Iran’s most important export. Iran sues US over broken nuclear deal. Iran initiated legal proceedings against the United States before the ICJ on July 16 over the expected reinstatement and escalation of nuclear sanctions.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on Monday, July 16, that Iran complained of the United States of ‘violation of the Treaty on Friendship and Economic Relations and Consular Rights between the two countries in 1955,’ and the Islamic Republic of Iran has filed a lawsuit on this basis with the Secretariat of the the Hague Tribunal, Irna told.
The lawsuit was based on a treaty signed more than a half-century ago
The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It is also known as the World Court and the United Nations tribunal for resolving international disputes.
“The lawsuit was based on a treaty signed by Iran and the United States more than a half-century ago — well before the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the American-backed shah and ushered in the prolonged estrangement in relations between the countries”, the International Court of Justice in a statement when Iran sued the United States .
Invoking a half-century old treaty signed by Iran and the United States, this nearly-forgotten contractual document known as the 1955 Treaty this nearly-forgotten contractual document known as the 1955 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations now stands to challenge the ‘irreparable prejudice’ suffered by Tehran, as a wave of tough unilateral sanctions have been brought into effect in August, bringing back into effect harsh penalties that had been lifted under a landmark 2015 agreement between two estranged states.
Iran said the action violates international obligations, including the 1955 US-Iran Treaty of Amity — an agreement signed well before Iran’s 1979 revolution, but which is still invoked in ongoing legal battles.
Iran and the US have not had diplomatic relations since 1980, when American embassy officials were held hostage in Tehran.
Iran has been able to successfully cite the 1955 bilateral Treaty
The case at the International Court of Justice then prompts an interesting question: whether, under international law, a treaty can be abrogated because too much has changed in the relationship between the parties. In other words, can a treaty become inapplicable because it is simply irrelevant?
It is imperative to point out at the outset that the United States, no longer bound to the rulings of the ICJ, withdrew itself from compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction in 1986.
However, Iran has been able to successfully cite the 1955 bilateral Treaty of Amity between itself and the United States as the basis for establishing the court’s jurisdiction in the dispute.
Further, Iran claims that the mere announcement that sanctions will be reimposed has created uncertainty and chilled or derailed economic cooperation, costing Iran billions in contracts and investments.
“The U.S. is publicly propagating a policy intended to damage as severely as possible Iran’s economy and Iranian national companies, and therefore inevitably Iranian nationals,” said Mohsen Mohebi, representing Iran. “This policy is plainly in violation of the 1955 Treaty of Amity”, Reuters reported.
Iran’s lawsuit against the US is an opportunity
According to international lawyers, the Iran-US conflict in the Hague International Criminal Court is an important opportunity to issue a ruling on economic war, which has not been defined as an instance of force. But Washington announced that the Hague has no jurisdiction to hear and determine the case, given that it is a matter of national security.
International law expert Jeff Gordon said the case may provide a legal basis for the court to determine the extent of the American bullying in accordance with international law.
He added that although economic sanctions can have the same effects and even worse than weapons and bombs, international law, for reasons related to the interests of the powers, has never officially described economic war as an example of the use of force, which according to the charter of the UN are forbidden.
The US and Iran have clashed at the court in the past
The United States and Iran have clashed at the court in the past since they became enemies after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran ignored a 1980 U.S. suit at the ICJ over the seizure of American diplomats in Tehran, which the court found to be illegal.
In another suit and countersuit, the ICJ found that the 1955 treaty was still valid even though it was signed before the revolution.