Zarif: Seizure of Iranian Assets in the U.S. is Illegal

Iran's Foreign Minister has described the seizure of two billion dollars of the Islamic Republic's assets in the U.S. as an action "contrary to international law" and a form of "theft of Iranian property," stating that Tehran does not recognize the American court ruling in this matter and has formed a "special committee" in response. According to ISNA, Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on Tuesday, April 25, at a press conference with his Macedonian counterpart in Tehran, that Iran holds the U.S. government responsible for safeguarding its assets. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 20 to seize two billion dollars of Iran's frozen assets to compensate the families of American victims of the 1983 bombings and other attacks "related to Iran." The U.S. claims that Iran played a role in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. military base in Beirut. Currently, this portion of Iran's assets is held at Citibank in New York. The Central Bank of Iran had filed a lawsuit in New York in 2014 to recover Iran's assets in this bank, which was rendered ineffective by this ruling. This ruling has faced widespread backlash from hardline conservatives and some government officials, with Iran's Foreign Minister stating, "If our property is encroached upon, we will claim damages at the appropriate time." Zarif also attributed the seizure of the two billion dollars to the previous government's actions in purchasing U.S. government bonds and not withdrawing these assets after sanctions. He mentioned that "at one point, carelessness occurred in this matter, allowing part of our assets to be in the hands of Americans." He added that Iran does not recognize the recent ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court and considers the seizure of Iranian assets illegal. The Foreign Minister indicated that legal actions will be pursued in this regard and that the government has decided to form a "special committee" to investigate why this happened and why, despite warnings, our money was invested in the U.S. or in areas accessible to the U.S. Following the seizure of two billion dollars of Iran's assets in the U.S., a group of hardline conservatives in Iran stated that this action is one of the consequences of signing the "JCPOA" agreement and a product of the government's foreign policy in dealing with the West. Hamid Baidi-Nejad, the Director General of Political and International Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, also responded to these criticisms by stating that the actions of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government in purchasing U.S. government bonds and not withdrawing these assets after sanctions facilitated this seizure. IRNA reported on Saturday, citing "an informed source in the International Legal Affairs Center of the Presidency," that the ruling of the lower court regarding the seizure of Iranian assets has been pending in U.S. courts for 10 years and is unrelated to the JCPOA. Ali Motahari, a member of parliament, also stated that this issue pertains to Ahmadinejad's government and the "purchase of American bonds" by it, and is not related to the "JCPOA" or Hassan Rouhani's government. Hossein Jaberi Ansari, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, today assessed the issuance of such a ruling as "violating" international laws, stating that "some powers explicitly violate international laws based on the power they have or believe they have." Jaberi Ansari also commented on Iran's plans to recover the seized assets, saying, "Any action in response to such events must be based on result-oriented calculations."