Iran Files Complaint Against United States at The Hague Court, Coinciding with Raisi’s Trip to New York for ‘Jihad of Explanation’

Concurrent with Ibrahim Raisi’s first trip to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly, Iran has once again raised the case of recovering approximately two billion dollars of its frozen assets in America before the highest court of the United Nations.

Iran’s president departed Tehran early Monday, 28 Shahrivar (Tehran time) to participate in the seventy-seventh session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Before leaving Tehran, he said in remarks at the airport that his trip is a good opportunity to conduct “jihad of explanation.”

The term “jihad of explanation” was recently raised by Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, in one of his speeches, in which he called on officials and forces of the Islamic Republic to engage in promoting the policies and positions of the Islamic Republic under this rubric.

This is not the first time that an Islamic Republic president has traveled to New York to speak at the UN General Assembly, but all previous presidents have made anti-American and anti-Israel statements in their speeches to this assembly, framed within Islamic Republic ideology.

Raisi also said for the umpteenth time that he will have no meetings with American officials on this trip and his presence in New York will be “dignified.”

The Islamic Republic president’s trip to New York comes as negotiations to revive the JCPOA have stalled due to Iran’s demands, particularly for guarantees from the United States, as well as closure of the case of Iran’s undeclared nuclear sites at the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Before leaving Tehran, Raisi reiterated in an interview with American CBS network that he is seeking “guarantees” from the United States to prevent it from withdrawing again from a potential nuclear agreement.

He told the American television network that he agrees with a “good agreement” and a “fair agreement,” but this agreement must be “durable.”

Iran’s Complaint Against United States at International Court of Justice

Concurrent with Raisi’s trip to New York, the International Court of Justice, the highest judicial body of the United Nations headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, is holding the first hearings this week on a case of Iran’s complaint against the United States.

The Islamic Republic initiated judicial proceedings in this case, which concerns Iran’s frozen assets in the United States, from the middle of 2016.

This comes as, according to a 2007 ruling by a U.S. federal court, Iran was ordered to pay two billion and 650 million dollars in compensation to the families of victims of the 1983 bombing at the headquarters of the U.S. Marines in Beirut and other attacks related to Iran.

Following confirmation of this ruling in 2014, nearly two billion dollars of seized assets from the Central Bank of Iran were confiscated to pay compensation to the families of the victims of the aforementioned bombings.

Iran is now, citing a bilateral Treaty of Amity signed with the United States during the Pahlavi era, seeking the recovery of these frozen assets.

The treaty in question, with the full name “Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights,” was signed on 23 Mordad 1334 (solar calendar) in Tehran between the United States and the Imperial Government of Iran. However, fundamentally, Iran-U.S. diplomatic relations were severed following the hostage-taking at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

Previously, the Donald Trump administration declared that this international court does not have jurisdiction to hear this case and violations of the “Treaty of Amity.”

Nevertheless, the International Court of Justice emphasized that it will hear Iran’s complaint against the United States for violation of the “Treaty of Amity.”

Source: Radio Farda