Iran files lawsuit at int’l court over U.S. seizure of its assets- Rouhani

Tehran  –   Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran has taken lawful measures against a U.S. court ruling that allows the seizure of parts of Iran’s assets in the U.S.
Iran has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), demanding compensation over the seizure of 2 billion dollars of the country’s assets by the U.S. court’’, Rouhani said.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the transfer of nearly 2 billion dollars to American victims of attacks blamed on Iran, including the 1983 truck bombing of a Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon.
Investigators of the court concluded that Iran was responsible for that attack, which Iran has denied.
Meanwhile, the assets, belonging to the Central Bank of Iran, have been blocked under U.S. sanctions.
“The verdict by the U.S. court is illegitimate, and the case of American nationals killed in Lebanon has nothing to do with Iran.
“It is not clear what the Americans were doing in Lebanon and how the case is related to Iran”, Rouhani said.
He added that Iran would never keep silent on the issue and that legal action would continue until the sum and all related compensations were retrieved.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on April 28, that the Islamic republic of Iran held the U.S. responsible for “the robbery.’’
“The Islamic republic of Iran holds the U.S. government responsible for this outrageous robbery, disguised under a court order.
“The country is determined to take every lawful measure to restore the stolen property’’, Zarif said. (Xinhua/NAN)