Iran sues US in Hague court, coincides with Raisi's trip to New York for "explanation jihad"

Coinciding with Ebrahim Raisi's first trip to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, Iran has once again filed a case in the United Nations' highest court to recover its nearly two billion dollars of frozen assets in the United States.

The Iranian President left Tehran for New York on Monday morning, September 19 (Tehran time), to attend the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Before leaving Tehran, in a speech at the airport, he said that his trip was a good opportunity to carry out the "jihad of explanation."

The phrase "explanatory jihad" was recently introduced by Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, in a speech, and he called on the officials and forces of the Islamic Republic to promote the policies and positions of the Islamic Republic under this title.

This is not the first time that a president of the Islamic Republic has traveled to New York to address the United Nations General Assembly, but all previous presidents have made anti-American and anti-Israeli statements in their speeches at this assembly, within the framework of the ideology of the Islamic Republic.

Raisi also said for the umpteenth time that he would not meet with any American officials during this trip and that his presence in New York would be "honorable."

The Islamic Republic President's visit to New York comes at a time when negotiations to revive the JCPOA are stalled due to Iran's requests, especially for guarantees from the United States, as well as the closure of the file on Iran's undeclared nuclear sites at the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Before leaving Tehran, Raisi once again demanded a "guarantee" from the United States in an interview with the American CBS network to prevent Iran from withdrawing from the potential nuclear deal again.

He told the American television network that he agreed with a "good deal" and a "fair deal," but that the deal must be "durable."

Iran files complaint against the United States at the International Court of Justice

Coinciding with Raisi's visit to New York, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest judicial body based in The Hague, Netherlands, is holding its first hearings this week on a case filed by Iran against the United States.

The Islamic Republic had begun legal proceedings in this case, which concerns Iran's frozen assets in the United States, in mid-2016.

This is despite the fact that, based on a 2007 US federal court ruling, Iran was ordered to pay $2.65 billion in compensation to the families of the victims of the 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps headquarters in Beirut and other attacks related to Iran.

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

Iran is now demanding the return of these frozen assets, citing the bilateral "Amity Treaty" signed with the United States during the Pahlavi era.

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. However, diplomatic relations between Iran and the United States were essentially severed after the hostage-taking of the American embassy in Tehran.

Previously, the Donald Trump administration had announced that this international court did not have the jurisdiction to hear this case and the violation of the "Treaty of Amity."

However, the International Court of Justice emphasized that it will hear Iran's complaint against the United States for violating the "Treaty of Amity."

Source: Radio Farda