UN court tells US to lift some sanctions on Iran

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U.S. TERMINATES 1955 TREATY WITH TEHRAN AFTER RULING – Treaty of Amity absurd, says Pompeo

WASHINGTON, Oct 3, (Agencies): Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that the US is canceling a 1955 treaty with Iran establishing economic relations and consular rights between the two nations.

The move follows a ruling by the United Nations’ highest court ordering the United States to lift sanctions on Iran that affect imports of humanitarian goods. Iran alleges that the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration after its withdrawal from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran violated the so-called Treaty of Amity. Pompeo told reporters Wednesday that the termination of the treaty was decades overdue.

He said that Iran was abusing the International Court of Justice for political and propaganda purposes. He said Iran’s claims under the treaty were “absurd.” Tehran hailed its “victory” after the International Court of Justice ruled that sanctions reimposed after Trump pulled out of a nuclear deal put Iranian lives at risk. The US said the case was “meritless” and only involved a few sanctions, although the decision is still likely to rile Trump. It remains unclear whether the judgment will be anything more than symbolic because both Washington and Tehran have ignored ICJ decisions in the past.

The judges at the court in The Hague ruled unanimously that the sanctions on some goods breached a 1955 “Treaty of Amity” between Iran and the US that predates Iran’s Islamic Revolution. They said Washington “shall remove by means of its choosing any impediments arising from the measures announced on 8 May to the free exportation to Iran of medicines and medical devices, food and agricultural commodities” as well as airplane parts and services, chief judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said.

The court said sanctions on goods “required for humanitarian needs … may have a serious detrimental impact on the health and lives of individuals on the territory of Iran.” US sanctions also had the “potential to endanger civil aviation safety in Iran.” Trump slapped a first round of sanctions on Iran in August after pulling out in May from the 2015 international deal aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, to the dismay of his European allies.

A second round of punitive measures is due in November. Iran dragged the US to the ICJ in July, and during four days of hearings in late August, its lawyers accused Washington of “strangling” its economy. Foreign drugs are now a rare commodity in Iran which is also dealing with a free-falling rial local currency and price hikes. Official Iranian statements acknowledge the shortage and say imports of certain drugs are no longer subsidised.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the court ruling “another failure for sanctionsaddicted US government and victory for rule of law”. The foreign ministry said in a statement that the ruling was a “clear sign” that “Iran is in the right”. Washington however says the case is outside the court’s purview as it concerns a matter of national security. “This is a meritless case over which the court has no jurisdiction,” US ambassador to The Netherlands Pete Hoekstra tweeted. But Hoekstra pointed out that the tribunal “declined to grant the sweeping measures requested by Iran” and it was “a narrow decision on a very limited range of sectors.”

Wednesday’s ruling is in fact a decision on so-called provisional measures ahead of a final decision on the matter, which may take several more years, experts said. Decisions by the Hague-based ICJ, which rules on disputes between United Nations members, are binding but it has no mechanism through which it can enforce its decisions. In 1986 Washington disregarded the court’s finding that it had violated international law by supporting the pro- US Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

Iran in turn ignored the ICJ’s ruling in 1980 to release hostages taken during the Iran hostage crisis. Trump has previously shown his disdain for overarching international organisations that limit US sovereignty, including the UN. He recently heavily criticised the separate International Criminal Court in

The Hague over a probe into alleged US abuses in Afghanistan. Trump has also ridden roughshod over his allies, alarming allies with his decision to pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal that saw Iran agree to limit its nuclear programme and let in international inspectors in return for an end to years of sanctions by the West. Trump argues that funds from the lifting of sanctions under the pact have been used to support terrorism and build nuclear-capable missiles.

European allies have pledged to keep the deal alive, with plans for a mechanism to let firms skirt the US sanctions as they do business with Iran. US-Iran relations have plunged to a new low since Trump’s election in 2016 Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani facing off at the UN in September. Despite their 1955 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations, Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic ties since 1980.

Hearings in a separate Iranian case against the US freezing of around $2 billion of Iranian assets to help American terror victims is due to start at the ICJ next week. Rouhani praised Europe on Wednesday for taking a “big step” toward maintaining business with Iran after the unilateral US withdrawal from a 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposition of new sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also told the BBC on Wednesday that support from Europe to preserve economic ties with the Islamic Republic in the face of US pressure was “better than expected”.

The European Union announced last week a so-called Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under consideration to facilitate trade with Iran could be in place before November. “To maintain financial and monetary relations in Iran, Europe has formed a special body … Europe has taken a big step,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

Rouhani, a pragmatist who engineered the nuclear accord and a shortlived period of detente between Tehran and Washington, said the Trump administration was “extremely angry” with Europe’s decision. US National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Wednesday the administration was reviewing all international agreements that could expose it to binding decisions by the International Court of Justice saying it was politicized and ineffective. His announcements came hours after Pompeo said the United States was terminating a treaty of amity with Tehran.

The court, which is based in The Hague, ordered the United States to ensure that sanctions against Iran, due to be tightened next month, do not affect humanitarian aid or civil aviation safety. Judges at the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, handed a victory to Tehran, which had argued that sanctions imposed since May by the administration of US President Donald Trump violate the terms of a 1955 Treaty of Amity between the two countries. Citing what he called “Iran’s abuse of the ICJ,” Bolton said: “We will commence a review of all international agreements that may still expose the United States to purported binding jurisdiction, dispute resolution in the International Court of Justice. The United States will not sit idly by as baseless politicized claims are brought against us.”

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