Could Iran Sue the United States for Alleged Economic Treaty Violation?

Iran officially condemned the United States’ Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month that would allow the families of victims of terrorism sponsored by Iran to collect monetary damages from the nearly $2 billion in frozen assets located in the United States. Taking it a step further, the Islamic Republic indicated that it would sue the U.S. government in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague.

Iran officially condemned the United States’ Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month that would allow the families of victims of terrorism sponsored by Iran to collect monetary damages from the nearly $2 billion in frozen assets located in the United States. Taking it a step further, the Islamic Republic indicated that it would sue the U.S. government in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague.

Speaking on behalf of his government, Iranian foreign adviser Ali Akbar Velayati called the ruling an act of robbery. “Iran is insistent on safeguarding its rights and will retrieve the money…the way to confront Americans is to resist their ambitions.”

On Tuesday, Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the ambassador of Switzerland to Tehran to discuss the U.S. Supreme Court decision. Iran and America have not enjoyed diplomatic relations since 1979, when Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy and took 52 Americans hostage, holding them in total for 444 days. Thus, the Swiss ambassador has been asked to convey the Islamic Republic’s protests to the U.S. government.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision would allow the families of a 1983 bombing in Lebanon—as well as the victims of other attacks with links to Iran—to collect the nearly $2 billion in frozen assets held in the United States. Iran claims the decision violates international laws, including a 1955 economic treaty between the two nations.

The treaty in question—the 1955 Treaty on Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights—has long been disregarded by the two nations following a change in leadership in Iran. Nevertheless, Iran seeks to rely upon that agreement and other international economic agreements to challenge the U.S. in the ICJ.

“We hold the US administration responsible for preservation of Iranian funds, and if they are plundered, we will lodge a complaint with the ICJ for reparation,” Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Monday.

Further complicating Iran’s court strategy is whether the U.S. would allow the ICJ to take jurisdiction over it once more. The U.S. declined to follow ICJ jurisdiction following an adverse ruling in 1986 regarding U.S. intervention in Nicaragua.

Many economic and foreign policy experts believe Iran is merely bluffing and putting on a show. These experts believe the nation knows that it would be foolish to allow the ruling to jeopardize the hard-won deal it reached last year with the U.S. and other nations that unfroze billions of dollars in assets around the globe and eased crippling economic sanctions against the nation in response to its nuclear programs.