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

Xinhua, June 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

Iran has filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the ruling of a U.S. court over seizure of Iran's assets, official IRNA news agency reported on Thursday.

The Islamic republic instituted proceedings on Tuesday against the United States at the ICJ with regard to the U.S. "violation" of mutual treaties, which obliges the sides to respect their commitments, IRNA said.

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 United States, having for many years taken "the position that Iran may be designated a state sponsoring terrorism, has adopted a number of legislative and executive acts that have the practical effect of subjecting the assets and interests of Iran and Iranian entities, including those of the Central Bank of Iran," the text of the lawsuit read.

"The assets of Iranian financial institutions and other Iranian companies have already been seized, or are in the process of being seized and transferred," it said, adding that such enactments and decisions breach provisions of mutual treaties.

Iran and Iranian state-owned companies are entitled to immunity from the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts and such immunity must be respected by the United States and the U.S. courts to the extent established as a matter of customary international law, it said.

The United States is under an obligation to make full reparations to Iran for the violation of its international legal obligations in an amount that might be determined by the ICJ at a subsequent stage of the proceedings, it added.

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

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.

On April 28, Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad-Javad Zarif, sent a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, saying, "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." Endit