The final session in this phase took place on Thursday morning, August 30th, and was devoted to the arguments of the American team, in which American lawyers stated that Iran’s resort to the Treaty of Amity was not done in “good faith.”
In presenting its arguments, the American team cited statements from Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, made the previous day, who had said that the complaint process at The Hague would only result in “psychological and political pressure on America.”
According to the ISNA news agency, Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that in the lengthy process of examining Iran’s complaint at the International Court of Justice, “any decision made will not be binding from an international law perspective,” but according to him, the pressure resulting from this action “will be effective.”
Iran’s legal team argued on Monday and Wednesday that America, by reinstating economic sanctions against Tehran and “imposing pressures aimed at crippling Iran’s economy and creating problems for the Iranian people,” has violated the Treaty of Amity between the two countries.
However, American lawyers responded to statements by Ayatollah Khamenei by noting that he stated economic problems stem from “mismanagement and not sanctions.”
Another argument presented by the American legal team at Thursday morning’s session was a reference to the fact that the nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA “has its own special political mechanisms for resolving disputes,” and therefore, Iran’s bringing this matter to The Hague represents “misuse” of the International Court of Justice.
At the conclusion of the fourth and final day of Iran’s complaint against America, the session chair announced that the court’s ruling on this complaint will be announced soon, within the coming weeks.
Should the International Court of Justice rule on its own jurisdiction to hear this case, the issuance of a judgment on this complaint may take years.
Following the United States government’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, which occurred on April 8th, the first round of sanctions reinstatement against Iran went into effect on August 5th, and the next round is scheduled to begin on November 4th.
The International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, Netherlands, is considered the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Although this court issues binding rulings, it has no enforcement power.
