Rouhani's Government Appoints Committee to Investigate Seizure of Two Billion Dollars of Iranian Assets

The government of Hassan Rouhani has formed a task force headed by the Minister of Economy and including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, Justice, and the Governor of the Central Bank to investigate the ruling on the seizure of two billion dollars of Iranian assets in the United States and to pursue the restitution of these rights. According to a report on Tuesday, April 26, by the IRNA news agency, this task force is tasked with thoroughly examining the Supreme Court ruling from various aspects, including identifying involved parties, and providing necessary proposals for the pursuit and restitution of the rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the next cabinet meeting on Sunday. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 20 that two billion dollars of Iran's frozen assets should be paid to the families of American victims of the 1983 bombing at the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and other attacks 'related' to the Islamic Republic. Other cases related to the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, which left 19 dead, and other attacks carried out by 'Tehran-linked' militia groups have also been raised. Following reports about the Supreme Court's ruling, some conservative figures and media, as well as close associates of the Supreme Leader, including Mohammad Reza Naqdi, head of the Basij Organization, and Mohammad Nabi Habibi, Secretary-General of the Islamic Coalition Party, have criticized Rouhani's government for its 'optimism' towards the U.S. In response to conservative criticisms, several senior government officials, including First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, have described the actions of Ahmadinejad's government in purchasing U.S. government bonds and not removing these assets after sanctions as 'careless,' 'ill-planned,' and a factor leading to the seizure of assets. Akbar Turkan, a senior advisor to Hassan Rouhani, has also called for the Iranian judiciary to prosecute Ahmadinejad's officials for purchasing bonds from the U.S. and investing in this 'hostile country.' Mahmoud Alavi, Iran's Minister of Intelligence, also stated on Tuesday that the negligence of the previous government (the ninth) led to the U.S. judiciary seizing two billion dollars of Iran's cash assets. The Ahmadinejad administration had purchased 'four billion dollars' in bonds in Italy, and the then Iranian ambassador had warned government officials at the time that the Americans could seize these bonds. According to Alavi, the previous government purchased these bonds at a time when even the plane carrying Ahmadinejad, after dropping him and the Iranian delegation, 'landed at a military airport' to prevent the U.S. judiciary from seizing the plane as one of Iran's assets. On April 23, IRNA reported, citing an unnamed official from the International Legal Affairs Center of the Presidency, that the previous government had purchased 'some securities through a Luxembourg broker (named Clearstream)' in 2007-2008. According to the mentioned report, this broker 'kept part of these securities in Europe and another part physically at Citibank in the U.S., which allowed American claimants to seize them.' Meanwhile, the Shargh newspaper, in its Tuesday issue, quoted an unnamed 'informed source' as saying that 'there may be other Iranian assets still in American banks that could be blocked, broadening the scope of this case.' According to this 'informed source,' intermediary European banks had given Iranian officials 'signals' that the U.S. might block these assets, but these warnings were 'ignored' by the then government. On April 24, Fars news agency reported, without providing details, that in addition to this two billion dollars, 'more than 16 billion dollars' in claims against the Islamic Republic in various cases in the U.S. are still ongoing. On Tuesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry officially summoned the Swiss ambassador, as the protector of U.S. interests in Tehran, to express its protest against judicial rulings against Iran in the United States.