NAM Condemns US Court Ruling on Iran's Frozen Assets

NAM Condemns US Court Ruling on Iran's Frozen Assets
Fri May 6, 2016 09:37:34

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has described the measure as violation of the international law and has denounced the US Supreme Court’s recent ruling that allows for the seizure of frozen Iranian assets.

The movement, which is comprised of 120 member states, in a statement released on Thursday called the decision a violation of Washington’s international and treaty obligations concerning “the sovereign immunity of states.”

It also lambasted the ruling as an illegal US practice and in defiance of the international law, urging the US administration “to respect the principle of state immunity.”

NAM also warned that Washington’s failure to adhere to this principle will have “adverse implications, including uncertainty and chaos in international relations.”

The movement further criticized the US Congress for paving the way for illegal confiscation of foreign assets, and the actions by the US government to unlawfully hold them.

The US Supreme Court ruled on April 20 that Iran's assets frozen in a bank account, which are worth around $2 billion, should be turned over to American families of those killed in a 1983 bombing in Beirut and other attacks blamed on Iran. Tehran has denied any role in the attacks.

The money, which belongs to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), had been blocked under US sanctions before the court ruling.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has denounced the seizure of the frozen assets as “highway robbery,” vowing that the Islamic Republic will retrieve the sum anyway.

“It is a theft. Huge theft. It is highway robbery. And believe you me, we will get it back,” Zarif told The New Yorker magazine in an interview published on April 25.

The chairman of Iran's parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said on Tuesday that Iranian nationals can file more than 190 cases with domestic courts against Washington compared to the 90 cases pending against Iran in US courts.

“In the world of politics, one should possess counter-pressure levers. Iran should therefore respond to the American move. We possess the means to take action against the US,” he added; Press TV reported.

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