UN Involvement in Iran's Assets Subject to US Approval

The spokesperson for the United Nations stated that Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the organization, is ready to assist in resolving the dispute between Iran and the United States regarding Tehran's frozen assets, but only if both countries are willing to do so. On Thursday, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, had requested the Secretary-General to mediate in order to pressure the United States to release Iran's blocked assets. In response to this request on Friday, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric emphasized that 'the Secretary-General's mediation is always possible, but both parties in the dispute must request it.' In his letter to the Secretary-General, Zarif urged Ban to ask the US government to 'adhere to its international obligations, stop violating the fundamental principle of state immunity, release Iran's frozen assets in US banks, and immediately and permanently cease interference in Iran's financial and commercial interactions outside the US in accordance with its international commitments and the framework of the JCPOA.' He also reminded that the principle of state immunity is one of the main pillars of international legal order and peremptory international law, stating that 'all claims against a sovereign state must be addressed according to the mechanisms provided in bilateral or multilateral agreements or appropriately resolved through competent international courts.' The US Supreme Court ruled on the first of Ordibehesht that two billion dollars of Iran's frozen assets should be paid to the families of American victims of 'several attacks linked to Tehran,' including the 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps headquarters in Beirut. Lawyers for Iran's Central Bank had previously requested a review of the Supreme Court's rulings against its properties and assets, but the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that participation in this court during the previous administration was done without consulting this ministry and was done carelessly, meaning it recognized the court. Tehran had previously summoned the Swiss ambassador, as the protector of US interests, to formally protest the issuance of judicial rulings against Iran in the United States. In this context, Zarif's letter to Ban Ki-moon protested the US Supreme Court ruling, and Hassan Rouhani strongly criticized the seizure of two billion dollars of Iran in the US. The background and complexities of the Supreme Court's ruling regarding the Central Bank's assets were also highlighted, with Zarif stating that the seizure of Iran's assets in the US is illegal and that the frozen assets were only used for 'purchasing US bonds.' Zarif stated that Iran does not recognize the US Supreme Court's ruling.