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Iran files lawsuit at int'l court over U.S. seizure of its assets: Rouhani

Xinhua, June 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran has taken lawful measures against a U.S. court ruling that allows the seizure of parts of Iran's assets in the United States, state TV reported.

Iran has filed a lawsuit against the United States at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanding compensation over the seizure of 2 billion U.S. dollars of the country's assets by the U.S. court, Rouhani was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the transfer of nearly 2 billion dollars to American victims of attacks blamed on Iran, including the 1983 truck bombing of a Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon.

Investigators of the court concluded that Iran was responsible for that attack, which Iran has denied.

The assets, belonging to the Central Bank of Iran, have been blocked under U.S. sanctions.

The verdict by the U.S. court is illegitimate, and the case of American nationals killed in Lebanon has nothing to do with Iran, Rouhani said.

"It is not clear what the Americans were doing in Lebanon and how is the case related to Iran," Rouhani said, adding that Iran will never keep silent on the issue and that legal action will continue until the sum and all related compensations are retrieved.

"The Islamic republic of Iran holds the United States government responsible for this outrageous robbery, disguised under a court order, and is determined to take every lawful measure to restore the stolen property," Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, said in a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on April 28. Endit