The United States said “Disappointed” the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which declared itself, on Wednesday February 3, competent to receive Tehran’s request to cancel the sanctions reinstated by the administration of former US President Donald Trump.
“We have great respect for the International Court of Justice”, said the spokesperson for American diplomacy, Ned Price. “At the same time, we are disappointed that the Court did not accept our relevant legal arguments that Iran’s claim is outside the jurisdiction of the Court”, he added.
Tehran dragged the United States to the ICJ in 2018, claiming that Washington had violated a 1955 friendship treaty between the two countries. Then-president Donald Trump reinstated sanctions after decreeing the withdrawal the United States of a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, much to the dismay of European allies.
The United States considers that the UN court, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, is not competent to judge the case and must abandon its treatment. They also claim that the sanctions were necessary because Iran would represent a “Serious threat” for international security.
All American objections rejected
Court judges finally dismissed all US objections on Wednesday, with ICJ president Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf saying the court has jurisdiction “To process the application filed by the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded by saying it was a “Victory” for Iran. “Today’s judgment is a preliminary decision, not a decision on the merits”, meanwhile stressed the spokesman for American diplomacy, criticizing Iran and its attempts to present “This decision as favorable to its arguments on the merits”.
The highest court of the United Nations, the ICJ was created by the United Nations after the Second World War to rule on disputes between member states. Now that the court allows itself to continue to adjudicate the case, a final decision could still take months, if not years.
Withdrawal from the agreement “ruins millions of lives”
The 2015 nuclear deal saw Tehran curtail its nuclear program and allow international observers to enter its territory, in exchange for ending years of sanctions imposed by the West.
Following Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the deal, Iran invoked the “Treaty of friendship” 1955 which predated the 1979 Islamic Revolution in which the pro-American Shah was overthrown and relations with the United States severed.
According to Tehran, the withdrawal of the 2015 agreement is at the origin of “Difficulties and sufferings” in the country and “Ruin millions of lives”. Washington officially ended the friendship treaty at the end of 2018, after the ICJ ordered it to ease sanctions on humanitarian products.
The 2015 nuclear deal – involving the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany – has remained hanging from a thread since the withdrawal of the United States.
US President Joe Biden has expressed support for the United States returning to the deal, but insisted that Tehran first roll back measures taken to protest the sweeping sanctions imposed by its predecessor.
The Biden administration argues that Donald Trump’s actions have seriously backfired, with Iran moving away from the nuclear deal and only intensifying its opposition to US interests.
