Rouhani Government Officials Accuse Ahmadinejad of Negligence in Luxembourg Case

The Governor of the Central Bank and the Minister of Economy of Iran have accused the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president, of failing to take action to transfer $1.6 billion of Iran's assets in Luxembourg despite having six months to do so. Officials from Hassan Rouhani's government had previously raised accusations of negligence and inaction in May after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to seize $2 billion of Iran's assets in the country to compensate families of victims of terrorist attacks allegedly linked to the Islamic Republic. According to a report by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) on Thursday, March 10, the Central Bank Governor stated in his Telegram channel that the $1.6 billion in Luxembourg is part of approximately $3.6 billion that the Central Bank purchased from 1999 to 2007, during which there were no issues regarding them. He noted that Western sanctions against Iranian banks have been in place since 2006, adding that before these assets were frozen, there was an opportunity to transfer them, "but for some reason, this opportunity was not utilized effectively." Five years ago, a court in New York ruled that "the Islamic Republic of Iran assisted certain al-Qaeda members and allowed them to cross its territory," ordering Iran to pay $7 billion in damages to the families of the September 11 attack victims. On Tuesday, March 14, informed sources told The New York Times that in connection with this "compensation," a judge in Luxembourg quietly issued a ruling to seize $1.6 billion of assets belonging to the Central Bank of Iran in Europe. Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, described the efforts of American lawyers to seize $1.6 billion of Iran's money as "completely unjust and baseless" on Wednesday, March 15. Meanwhile, the Central Bank Governor announced that Iran has presented its "legal arguments" to the Luxembourg court and "expects the court to reject the lawsuit filed by the American side." Ali Tayebnia, the Minister of Economy, also reported that in 2007, the Luxembourg company "Clearstream," which held Iranian bonds, informed Iranian officials to transfer these bonds, and about $220 million of these funds were transferred. According to Mr. Tayebnia, there was a six-month window for selling and transferring these funds between December 2007 and June 2008, but no action was taken during this period. In May, a special task force of Hassan Rouhani's government investigating the seizure of $2 billion of Iran's assets in the U.S. accused Ahmadinejad's government officials of failing to take "effective action" to remove the purchased bonds from the reach of the U.S. judicial system despite rulings issued in American courts and "warnings from foreign sources, relevant domestic centers, and high authorities." This task force stated that despite the fact that it became clear after 2007 that the purchased bonds were "at risk," the Central Bank "only sold a small portion of them" despite multiple warnings and merely transferred the bonds "from one account to another" in 2008. In response, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's office, while not denying the purchase of these bonds during his administration, attributed the seizure of the $2 billion to the "weakness" of Hassan Rouhani's government in the international arena and the "arrogance" of American officials. On August 8, Ahmadinejad also requested the return of this $2 billion and compensation to Iran in a letter to Barack Obama, the President of the United States, without accepting responsibility in this matter. Iran has officially filed a complaint against the United States at the International Court of Justice, and the government website published a picture of this complaint on June 17, stating that U.S. courts have issued judgments against Iran amounting to $56 billion "on the grounds of alleged involvement in terrorist activities outside U.S. territory." Meanwhile, the Central Bank Governor announced that this complaint includes assets belonging to the Central Bank of Iran in Luxembourg and all assets that have been "threatened by the U.S. government in violation of international law."