US reaction to International Court of Justice ruling on Iran's complaint: This is a preliminary ruling

A spokesperson for the US State Department said on Wednesday, February 5, in response to the ruling of the International Court of Justice, the United Nations' judicial body, that Iran wants to pretend that the ruling was about the content of the complaint, when in fact it is a preliminary ruling regarding the jurisdiction to hear the complaint.

The International Court of Justice announced hours ago that it will hear Iran's complaint against the United States for violating the "Treaty of Amity" and the return of sanctions on Iran.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, said in response to a reporter's question on this matter, "First of all, I want to say that we have a great deal of respect for the International Court of Justice, but at the same time, we are disappointed that the court did not accept our legal arguments regarding its lack of jurisdiction to hear Iran's complaint."

He added, "Although we do not agree with the court's reasoning, this was a preliminary ruling on the court's jurisdiction and not a decision on the substance of the complaint (Iran). Although Iran wants to make it appear that the court's ruling was on the substance of the complaint, the International Court of Justice itself has emphasized that this preliminary ruling was not on the substance of the complaint (Iran).

A spokesperson for the US State Department has emphasized that, in the next stage of examining the content of the complaint, we will explain why Iran's claims are not valid.

In June 2018, Iran filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice against US sanctions, but the Donald Trump administration announced that the international court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case and to rule on the violation of the "Treaty of Amity."

Minutes after the majority of the 16 judges of the International Court of Justice agreed to review Iran's complaint against the United States, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the event a "major legal victory" for Tehran and said it was time for the United States to fulfill its international obligations.

The Islamic Republic of Iran says that by reinstating sanctions against Iran, the Trump administration has violated the 1955 "Treaty of Amity" between the two countries, even though this treaty was signed years before the Iranian Revolution came to fruition in 1979.

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.

Given the provisions of this treaty, which designates the International Court of Justice as the authority to resolve potential disputes, Tehran filed a case against Washington in June 2018, accusing Washington of violating it.

Abdulqawi Yusuf, one of the judges at the Hague court, announced on Wednesday that, based on a vote among the judges, the United States' argument that the court does not have jurisdiction to handle the case was rejected, and thus, the case has been moved forward and the court is ready to hear the parties' defenses.

However, Reuters reported that the court's final ruling could take several years.

Source: Radio Farda