Iran filed a lawsuit against the United States on Monday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Washington’s reimposition of sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
“In order to make up for the United States’ re-imposition of illegal sanctions against our country, to reclaim the rights of the Iranian nation and to internationally sue the US for its violations, the Foreign Ministry, in coordination with the Presidential Office’s Centre for International Law Affairs and other relevant authorities, put on its agenda the filing of a complaint with the International Court of Justice against the US for breaching its international obligations, especially with regards to the Treaty of Amity, economic relations and consular rights in 1955,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said, according to Iran’s state-run Tasnim News agency.
The United States exited the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or Iran nuclear deal, in May after reimposing sanctions on the empire of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s Central Bank, which is the lifeblood of the government’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“After receiving the viewpoints of Iranian and foreign international attorneys and legal advisors, the final lawsuit containing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s complaint over the (US’s) violation of the Treaty of Amity was registered on July 16, 2018,” Qassemi said. He added, “In this complaint, it is explained with evidence that the United States’ decision on May 8, 2018, to re-impose nuclear sanctions runs counter to the United States’ international obligations, especially articles 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, and the Treaty of Amity. … The United States is obliged to stop these international breaches and compensate for all the damage inflicted.”
On Monday, the third anniversary of the JCPOA, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the United States will be held “accountable for its unlawful reimposition of unilateral sanctions” and said, “The US can’t be trusted to keep its word”:
On 3rd anniversary of JCPOA, it remains a triumph of multilateral diplomacy despite US actions. While we knew US can't be trusted to keep its word—as its allies have now discovered—JCPOA proves that toxic unilateralism of Trump Admin means it can’t be relied on to honor any deal.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) July 14, 2018
With that, Zarif announced the lawsuit had been filed and that “Iran is committed to the rule of law”:
Today Iran filed a complaint @CIJ_ICJ to hold US accountable for its unlawful re-imposition of unilateral sanctions. Iran is committed to the rule of law in the face of US contempt for diplomacy & legal obligations. It's imperative to counter its habit of violating int'l law.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) July 16, 2018
Both Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have announced that “sanctions are returning” to Iran.
“Remember the last few years, the sanctions were lifted. And so much of this malign activity, this increase in resources provided to Hizballah, the increase in resources provided to the Shia militias fighting in Iraq and in Syria, the support for the Houthis in Yemen, the efforts in Bahrain, those all took place against the backdrop of a relief from sanctions as a result of agreements that were entered into in the JCPOA,” Pompeo said last week.
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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