Confirmation of the jurisdiction of the Hague Court to hear Iran's complaint against the United States

A majority of judges at the International Court of Justice believe the court has jurisdiction to hear Iran's complaint against US sanctions. The US had previously said the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the Islamic Republic's complaint.

In July 2018, two months after the US withdrew from the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions, the Islamic Republic filed a complaint with the UN Supreme Court in The Hague (International Court of Justice), accusing the United States of violating the "Treaty of Amity."

This treaty is a bilateral treaty of friendship and trade that was signed between the then Iranian government and the US government two decades before the establishment of the Islamic Republic (1955/1934).

The United States announced at the time that the International Court of Justice in The Hague did not have jurisdiction to hear the complaint and had objected to the filing of the case.

According to Reuters, the majority of judges of the International Court of Justice, in a meeting held on Wednesday evening, February 3, rejected the objection of the United States and confirmed the court's jurisdiction to hear Iran's complaint. This is not a final ruling.

A number of then-US government officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, announced shortly after the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal that Washington had withdrawn from the Amity Treaty.

In October 2018, the International Court of Justice issued a preliminary ruling based on a complaint from Iran, citing the Treaty of Amity.

Citing the aforementioned treaty, the ruling states that the United States must remove barriers to the export of humanitarian items such as medicine, medical equipment, and food.

These items are not subject to US sanctions, but in some cases, banking and financial sanctions against the Islamic Republic make their trade difficult.

The nuclear deal was signed in 2015 during the presidency of Barack Obama between representatives of the Islamic Republic and six world powers, but Donald Trump, who has always called the agreement incomplete and one-sided, signed an order to withdraw from it.

Sentences without enforcement guarantee

The international court's ruling has no enforcement guarantee. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the ruling as a "major legal victory" for Iran in a tweet. Zarif said in the message that Iran has always fully respected international law and that now is the time for the United States to live up to its international obligations.