UN COURT ROLLS BACK SANCTIONS ON IRAN

The UN’s highest court Wednesday handed Iran a legal victory over the U.S., ordering the Trump administration to roll back some of its sanctions.

Judges at the International Court of Justice ruled unanimously that parts of the sanctions the United States imposed on Iran in May were illegal and could have “a serious detrimental impact on the health and lives of individuals in Iran.”

The Iranian government hailed the ruling as proof that “Iran is in the right,” but it was not clear if the U.S. would abide by the court’s decision to roll back sanctions that would affect Iran’s ability to import medicine, food and spare parts necessary for airline safety.

Mike Pompeo, the U,S, secretary of state, said the U,S. was not bound by the court’s decision but that it was already taking steps to ensure humanitarian goods still reached Iran.

“We’re disappointed that the court failed to recognize it has no jurisdiction on these sanctions measures,” he said.

He said the U.S. was terminating the 1955 Treaty of Amity affirming friendly relations between the countries. “The Iranians have been ignoring it for an awfully long time, we ought to have pulled out of it decades ago,”

Meanwhile, national security adviser John Bolton said the administration also was pulling out of an amendment to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations that Iran or others, notably the Palestinians, could use to sue the U.S. at The Haguebased tribunal. Bolton told reporters at the White House that the provision violates U.S. sovereignty.

“The United States will not sit idly by as baseless politicized claims are brought against us,” Bolton said. He cited a case brought to the court by the “so-called state of Palestine” challenging the move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as the main reason for withdrawing.

Trump ordered a first round of punishing sanctions on Iran in May after he pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear agreement earlier this year. A second round of tougher sanctions is due to go into force next month, targeting countries that buy Iranian oil.

“The decision proved once again that the Islamic Republic is right and the U.S. sanctions against people and citizens of our country are illegal and cruel,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement.

“The U.S. must comply with its international commitments and lift obstacles to Iranian trade,” it added.

Iran petitioned the court in July, arguing that Trump’s decision violated the Treaty of Amity signed between the countries before they became foes after the Iranian revolution in 1979.

The sanctions have already weakened Iran’s economy and sent the riyal spiralling to new lows against the dollar. Iran has demanded that European countries find a way to offset the economic damage the sanctions cause.