Trick or treaty

US ends ’55 Iran pact over UN ruling

The White House is terminating a 1950s treaty with Iran after a UN court ruled the accord prevented the United States from imposing some of its latest sanctions, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.

“We’re disappointed that the court failed to recognize that it has no jurisdiction to issue any order relating to these sanctions measures with the United States, which is doing its work on Iran to protect its own essential security interests,” Pompeo said during a news conference at the State Department.

The United Nations’ highest court ordered the US to ensure that sanctions that will be tightened next month do not imperil humanitarian aid or civil-aviation safety in Iran.

The International Court of Justice said such sanctions, reinstated after President Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in May, would violate the terms of the 1955 Treaty of Amity between the two countries.

In response, Pompeo said the US would simply pull out of the treaty, an action that is “39 years overdue,” referring to the 1979 overthrow of the US-backed shah.

“Iran has attempted to interfere with the sovereign rights of the United States to take lawful actions as necessary to protect our national security, and Iran is abusing the ICJ for political and propaganda purposes,” he said.

“Given Iran’s history of terrorism, ballistic-missile activity and other malign behaviors, Iran’s claims under the treaty are absurd.”

At the same time, Pompeo said the US would make ex- ceptions to its sanctions to deal with humanitarian issues.

National Security Adviser John Bolton said that Iran had “made a mockery” of the treaty it was now embracing.

“The regime cannot practice animosity in its conduct, and then ask for amity under international law,” said Bolton, a former UN ambassador.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the ruling a “victory for the rule of law.”