Iran plans to take the U.S. to the International Court of Justice at The Hague over a U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last month, President Hassan Rowhani said on Tuesday.
According to a report, the court had upheld the seizure of Iranian assets to pay the victims of alleged Iran-sponsored terrorist attacks.
“We will bring the case to The Hague in the near future.
“Iran will not allow the U.S. to seize legitimate Iran assets,’’ Rowhani said.
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way last month for families of Americans killed in Iranian sponsored terrorist attacks to collect nearly two billion dollars from the Iranian government.
The 6-2 ruling upheld a 2012 law that said Iranian assets held by a U.S. bank could be seized to pay legal judgements for Iran’s involvement in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and other attacks.
The Iranian Central Bank had claimed that the law passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama had overstepped into a matter that should be decided by the U.S. judiciary system.
However, the court ruled that Congress and Obama had not violated the separation of powers within the U.S. government.
The decision involved 16 separate lawsuits by more than 1,000 victims of terrorist attacks in which Iran had been found responsible.
Most of those involved are families of those killed in the Beirut bombing. (dpa/NAN)