Iran fights US sanctions at UN court

Iran demanded Monday that the UN's top court order the United States to suspend nuclear-linked sanctions against Tehran, but Washington vowed to "vigorously" fend off the legal challenge.

The Islamic Republic launched a suit at the International Court of Justice over US President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose sanctions that were lifted in a landmark 2015 accord.

Trump says the sanctions are needed to ensure Iran never builds a nuclear bomb. But Iran's representative Mohsen Mohebi branded them "naked economic aggression".

His team of lawyers told the court in The Hague that the measures were already devastating Iran's economy and threatening the welfare of its citizens.

"The United States is publicly propagating a policy intended to damage as severely as possible Iran's economy and Iranian nationals and companies," Mohebi said.

"Iran will put up the strongest resistance to the US economic strangulation, by all peaceful means."

US lawyers are due to give their response in arguments before the court on Tuesday, with experts expecting them to challenge the ICJ's jurisdiction.

"We will vigorously defend against Iran's meritless claims this week in The Hague," said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

He said Iran's lawsuit was "an attempt to interfere with the sovereign rights of the United States to take lawful actions, including re-imposition of sanctions, which are necessary to protect our national security".

- 'Irreparable prejudice' -

ICJ judgements are binding, final and without appeal.

However, whether any decision will be implemented remains unclear, with both Iran and the US in the past ignoring ICJ rulings against them.

The US measures have added to Iran's economic woes, fuelling strikes and protests across the country and political spectrum.

The sanctions target financial transactions and imports of raw materials, cars and aircraft among other sectors.

A second wave of punitive measures is due to hit the OPEC member state in early November, targeting its vital energy sector including oil exports.

Iran's lawyers said the sanctions would cause it "irreparable prejudice". They urged the court to order the suspension of the sanctions pending a definitive ruling.

London-based lawyer Samuel Wordsworth, for Iran, told the court the measures were threatening Iranians' access to medicines as well as disrupting business deals.

- 'One-sided deal' -

The ICJ is expected to take a couple of months to decide whether to grant Tehran's request for a provisional ruling. A final decision could take years.

After years of diplomacy, the 2015 deal was signed by Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

Sanctions were lifted in return for Iran committing not to pursue nuclear weapons.

Trump, who took office in 2016, called it a "horrible one-sided deal".

He said it "failed to achieve the fundamental objective of blocking all paths to a Iranian nuclear bomb."

- Business deals scuppered -

Iran's lawyers said the US sanctions had disrupted tens of billions of dollars' worth of business deals with foreign companies.

Iran's currency the rial has lost around half its value since April.

International companies including French oil firm Total and Germany's Siemens have suspended operations in Iran since Trump announced the US withdrawal in May.

Trump said the sanctions would turn up the financial pressure on Tehran to come to a "comprehensive and lasting solution" regarding its activities such as its "ballistic missile programme and its support for terrorism".

The case is the second brought by Tehran against Washington since 2016. That year it brought a suit at the ICJ against the freezing of around $2 billion of Iranian assets abroad which US courts say should go to American victims of terror attacks.

Hearings in that case are due to start on October 8.

In both cases Iran is basing its claim on the obscure 1955 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations, signed long before the country's Islamic revolution.

Despite the treaty, the two countries have not had diplomatic ties since 1980. Iran routinely refers to the US as "the enemy" and its officials chant "Death to America" at official functions.

Four questions on Iran's legal challenge to US sanctions
The Hague (AFP) Aug 27, 2018 - Iran's legal challenge against renewed sanctions by the United States goes before the UN's International Court of Justice on Monday.

Here are four key questions regarding the case:

What is the case about?

Iran's attempt to block the reinstatement of sanctions, announced by US President Donald Trump earlier this year, is the latest in a series of court battles that Tehran and Washington are fighting at the ICJ.

Trump announced on May 8 that he was pulling out of a landmark deal between Iran and major powers aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

The deal agreed with the UN's five permanent Security Council members and Germany in 2015 limits Tehran's stockpile of enriched uranium until 2031 in exchange for sanctions relief.

Blasting the accord as a "horrible, one-sided deal", Trump reimposed a wave of tough, unilateral sanctions.

Tehran now accuses Washington of "besieging" its economy and wants the Hague-based court -- which rules in disputes between countries -- to order the US to temporarily halt punitive measures, while the judges mull the deeper merits of the case.

Does Tehran have a case?

The case has two elements, said Eric De Brabandere, professor of international dispute settlement at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Firstly, "Iran genuinely considers the re-imposition of sanctions a violation of international law."

Secondly, "Iran has the support of many European states on the question of sanctions, politically speaking," De Brabandere argued.

Iran's representatives need to convince the ICJ that its 15 permanent judges indeed have the jurisdiction to hear the case.

Tehran bases its arguments on a little-known 1955 treaty between Iran and the United States. The treaty provides for "friendly relations" between the two countries, encourages mutual trade and investment and regulates consular relations.

However, there have been no formal diplomatic ties between Tehran and Washington since the regime of the US-backed Shah was deposed by Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979.

What will Washington argue?

"My guess is that for this case they will argue that the court has no jurisdiction, as they did in a separate case launched against the US two years ago," said De Brabandere.

Washington could invoke two arguments.

One is that the 1955 treaty is no longer in force, because it is a "treaty of friendship" between two nations which have been adversaries for the last four decades.

Secondly, US representatives could say that the dispute was "not about the treaty, but about sanctions and Iran's alleged terrorist activities," De Brabandere said.

"The US is likely to argue that the dispute is about something much broader than a treaty," for instance Tehran's nuclear ambitions, the expert said.

Furthermore, there is a clause in the 1955 treaty which allows the states to take "any measures to protect essential security interests."

Can Iran's case succeed?

"I think it's very likely that the ICJ will, based on the 1955 treaty, decide to hear the case," said De Brabandere.

However, whether the case will be successful on its own merits -- in other words whether the United States indeed breached its obligations -- is more difficult to establish.

"For one, the 1955 treaty is relatively narrow in scope. It means that the ICJ can only rule whether the US violated its obligations under the specific treaty," De Brabandere said.

This means that the ICJ's judges will not rule in what they may consider any broader dispute between Iran and the United States.

The outcome of the case -- which could still take years before being handed down -- "is very difficult to predict," said De Brabandere.

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UN court hears Iran's challenge against US sanctions
The Hague (AFP) Aug 24, 2018
Iran's legal challenge against renewed sanctions by the United States goes before the UN's top court Monday, as Tehran seeks to avert painful punitive measures that could hurt its still fragile economy. Tehran filed a suit against US President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose economic sanctions at the Hague-based International Court of Justice last month. After unilaterally pulling out of a historic hard-won deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme in May, Trump slapped a first round o ... read more