The United States is withdrawing from the "Treaty of Amity" with Iran
On Wednesday, October 1, the US Secretary of State announced the United States' withdrawal from the "Treaty of Amity" between the United States and Iran.
Mike Pompeo stated that "Iran has used the Treaty of Amity as a tool to attack the United States," adding: "Today I am announcing here that the United States has terminated the Treaty of Amity with Iran."
The treaty sought by Iranian officials, with the full name "Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights," was signed in Tehran on August 13, 1955, between the United States and the Iranian imperial government.
Paragraph 3 of Article 23 of this treaty provides that either party may terminate and terminate it by "one year's written notice."
The US government's decision to withdraw from the pact comes hours after the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled in Iran's favor, issuing an interim order that the United States must ensure that its unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic do not negatively impact essential goods or the safety of passenger flights.
In its complaint to the International Court of Justice, the Islamic Republic accused the Donald Trump administration of violating the Treaty of Amity between Iran and the United States by withdrawing from the nuclear agreement between Tehran and six world powers.
In his remarks on Wednesday, Mike Pompeo accused Iran of abusing the Hague Tribunal for its political and propaganda purposes.
The US Secretary of State said that Iran filed a "meritorious case" with the International Court of Justice in July, alleging that the United States violated the Treaty of Amity between the two countries.
"We were disappointed that the Court was unable to rule that it had no jurisdiction to rule on the United States sanctions, as the United States' actions against Iran were in line with its vital security interests."
Calling Wednesday's decision in favor of Tehran "invalid," he said, "Given Iran's history of supporting terrorism, ballistic missile activities, and other subversive activities, its recourse to the Treaty of Amity is ridiculous."
Mr. Pompeo also stated that today's ruling by the court "is a defeat for Iran. In fact, this court rejected all of Iran's baseless and baseless requests."
He stressed that “our existing exemptions and permits for humanitarian exchanges and flight safety remain in place. The decisions being made today inside Iran to spend money to fuel terror around the world are dollars that Iran’s leaders are wasting.”
The US Secretary of State expressed hope that Iranian leaders will come to the conclusion that the only way to secure the future of their people is to abandon the campaign of terror and destruction in every corner of the world.
Mr. Pompeo said that Iran has been violating the Treaty of Amity for years, adding that the treaty should have been terminated 39 years ago.
Apparently, this American official is referring to the time when the country's diplomats were taken hostage by forces known as "Followers of the Imam's Line" at the US Embassy in Tehran, which occurred on November 4, 1979.
The attack on the US embassy in Iran took 52 US diplomats hostage and held them captive for 444 days. The attack severed relations between Tehran and Washington and led to decades of hostility between the two countries.
This event, which was in fact a complete negation of the "Treaty of Amity" between Iran and the United States, is the first time that the two countries have referred to the Hague Court, citing the treaty.
During the hostage crisis, the United States filed a complaint against Iran at the International Court of Justice, invoking Article 4 of the 1955 Treaty of Amity and the consular rights mentioned therein. The court ruled in favor of the United States and demanded the immediate release of the hostages.
Over the next decade, Iran also filed a lawsuit against the United States twice in The Hague, citing the treaty. First, after an attack on an Iranian passenger plane over the Persian Gulf that killed 290 people on board, and again in 1992, due to attacks by American forces on Iranian oil rigs in the Persian Gulf.
"Source of threat" against Americans in Iraq
In another part of his remarks, the US Secretary of State accused Iran of being a "source of threat" against Americans in Iraq.
"Our intelligence on this is credible. We see the hand of the Ayatollah (Khamenei) and his followers in supporting these attacks against the United States," Mr. Pompeo said.
The United States said last Friday that it was closing its consulate in Basra and withdrawing its diplomatic staff from the southern Iraqi city due to threats from Iran and Shiite militia groups loyal to it.
Source: Radio Farda
