US urges world court to drop Iran bid on sanctions

THE HAGUE: US lawyers yesterday urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to dismiss an Iranian lawsuit calling for a lifting of US sanctions against Tehran, saying its real aim was to restore a 2015 nuclear pact rejected by President Donald Trump.

The ICJ is the UN’s highest court for resolving disputes between nations. Its rulings are binding, but it has no power to enforce them, and the US and Iran are among a handful of countries that have ignored its decisions.

Iran argues that the reimposed US sanctions, which are undermining its already weak economy, violate a 1955 friendship treaty between the two countries – signed before Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and the sharp deterioration in bilateral ties that has endured until today.

But US State Department legal adviser Jennifer Newstead said on the second day of oral arguments in the case that Iran’s appeal based on the 1955 Treaty of Amity was a legal sidestep. “Iran is endeavouring to use the procedures of the Treaty of Amity to enforce rights that it claims under an entirely different (agreement) that specifically excludes judicial remedies,” she said. Newstead said US-Iranian disputes should be resolved through diplomacy and not by the court.

Trump pulled out of what he described as a flawed 2015 pact between Iran and major world powers under which sanctions were lifted in return for Tehran accepting curbs on its nuclear programme. The Trump administration then announced unilateral plans to restore sanctions against Tehran.

Although Washington’s European allies protested against the move, most Western companies intend to adhere to the sanctions, preferring to lose business in Iran rather than be punished by the US or barred from doing business there. “This case is entirely about an attempt to compel the US by order of this court to resume the 2015 nuclear deal,” Newstead said.

The Trump administration has said its decision to pull out of the 2015 deal was prompted by US national security concerns, including the threat it says is posed by Iran’s nuclear programme and Tehran’s involvement in conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Iran asked the ICJ, which is also known as the World Court, on Monday to order Washington to suspend the sanctions temporarily while it heared Iran’s case in full, a process that could take years. Washington says that request must be rejected.

A provisional ruling is expected within a month, though no date has been set. – Reuters