Iran Officially Complains to the U.S. Over Seizure of Two Billion Dollars

Hassan Rouhani stated that Iran has officially filed a complaint against the United States at the International Court of Justice due to what he described as the "seizure and theft of approximately two billion dollars of the Central Bank of Iran's assets." The Iranian president made this remark during an iftar ceremony with the families of martyrs and veterans on Wednesday night, June 16. He emphasized that the eleventh government will pursue the matter until the rights of the people are restored and compensation is obtained. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Rouhani reiterated that Iran's two billion dollars in assets "came into the hands of the Americans due to negligence," and stated that "American courts have issued illegal rulings saying that these assets should be given to Americans and the families of those killed in Lebanon." He stressed that the issue of the deaths of Americans in Lebanon "has nothing to do with Iran." Rouhani's comments refer to a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 20, which rejected the Central Bank of Iran's request for reconsideration and ruled that two billion dollars of Iran's frozen assets should be paid to the families of American victims of the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and other attacks linked to Iran. This ruling was issued with a majority of six judges in favor and two against. The issuance of this ruling sparked outrage among officials and media affiliated with the Islamic Republic, who described the U.S. Supreme Court's action as "looting," "blatant theft," "international piracy," a "major legal scandal," and the "plundering" of Iran's assets. Simultaneously, comments and reports revealed that the mentioned assets had been used during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency to purchase American securities, which U.S. courts had ordered to be seized for compensating plaintiffs against Iran. The Rouhani administration formed a special task force in mid-April to investigate this issue and provide necessary solutions for recovering Iran's assets. This task force reported on May 17 that despite the fact that it had been clear since 2007 that the purchased securities were "at risk," the Central Bank "despite numerous warnings, sold only a small portion of them" and in 2008 merely transferred the securities from one account to another. The task force accused the previous administration's officials of not taking "effective action" to remove Iran's assets from the reach of the U.S. judicial system, despite U.S. sanctions, court rulings, and "warnings from foreign sources, relevant domestic centers, and high authorities." Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's office, without denying the purchase of these bonds during his administration, attributed the seizure of the two billion dollars of Iran's assets to the "weakness" of Rouhani's government in the international arena and the "arrogance" of U.S. officials. In his remarks on Wednesday night, Rouhani stated that "we should not remain silent in the face of this incident, and yesterday we officially registered our complaint at the International Court of Justice, and we will pursue this complaint until we reach a conclusion." He said that "pursuing the rights of the people means continuing the path of the martyrs." Over 1,300 Americans have filed lawsuits against the Islamic Republic of Iran seeking compensation for the 1983 suicide attacks in Beirut that resulted in the deaths of 241 Marines, the 1996 terrorist bombing in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, which left 19 dead, and other attacks carried out by militia groups linked to Tehran. Last week, a court in Canada ruled that 13 million dollars from Iran's non-diplomatic assets in that country should be paid to the families of American victims of "terrorist" attacks by Hezbollah and Hamas. In this context, Iran's objection to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling for the payment of two billion dollars in compensation from Iran's assets in the U.S. has been noted, with Zarif stating that Iran does not recognize the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling and calling the seizure of Iran's assets in the U.S. illegal. Ahmadinejad's statement responded to accusations regarding the seizure of Iran's two billion dollars. Rouhani strongly criticized the seizure of Iran's two billion dollars in the U.S. The UN's involvement in the asset issue "depends on U.S. approval." The U.S. rejected the UN's mediation in the two billion dollar case. Rouhani stated that the people would become aware of the negligence of past officials regarding the two billion dollar case. A proposal was approved to "oblige the government to pursue damages from the U.S. against Iran." The government's task force emphasized judicial action regarding "negligence in the seizure of assets." The Canadian court's ruling to pay compensation from Iran's non-diplomatic assets was also noted, along with Iran's objection to the Canadian court's ruling regarding the payment of compensation.