Tehran asks UN assistance for frozen Iranian funds in the US, managed by the Supreme Court
A letter from Javad Zarif to Ban Ki-moon, recalls the injustices suffered by the people of Iran because of US policy. Criticism of the Supreme Court that allows the release of frozen funds to compensate victims of terrorism in Beirut.
Teheran (AsiaNews) - Iran has asked the United Nations to intervene with the United States to stop a Supreme Court decision, which would allow the use of about $ 2 billion in frozen Iranian funds, to repay the victims of terrorist attacks carried out by Shiites, including the one at the US marines base in Beirut in 1983.
The Court's decision will help to 1,300 relatives of 241 marines who died in the attack. The US government believes that those responsible are Hezbollah and they, according to the US government, are supported by Iran. Tehran rejects the charges and instead suggests that Iranian funds blocked in the US be transferred home, the embargo having ended.
In a letter to the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, points out that the US court decision will have "catastrophic implications" and erodes the principle of immunity of States.
The dispute broke out just after the end of the embargo and when the United States expect to honor the nuclear deal signed in Vienna in July. According to many observers, Washington is doing everything to undermine the agreement and this controversy over the funds to the victims of terrorism is a way to avoid the free transfer of Iranian funds from the US to Tehran.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran- the letter reads - holds the United States Government responsible for this outrageous robbery, disguised under a court order, and is determined to take every lawful measure to restore the stolen property and the interest accrued to it from the date it was blocked by the United States".
"It is the United States - continues the letter - who should pay for repairs to the Iranian people for their permanent political hostilities". It accuses Washington of having "overturned the democratically elected government in 1953 [that of Mossadek- ed]" and advocating the "brutal dictatorship" of the Shah, which followed soon after, from 1953 to 1979. And it says that the United States should pay in Tehran damages for shooting down an Iranian passenger plane in 1988.
The letter is the latest in a series of complaints of the Iranian side that they point out the difficulties to have access to the international financial system - to boycott the US - while respecting the terms of the agreement. The US administration claims to have taken note of the demands and is trying to address the Iranian criticism.
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26/04/2019 19:11
01/05/2021 08:00
