Iran Calls on UN to Help With US Court Asset Award
Iran escalated its invective against the United States on Thursday over the court-ordered use of nearly $2 billion in seized Iranian central bank assets to compensate American victims of terrorist attacks overseas, calling the action “an outrageous robbery” and threatening unspecified retaliation.
The criticism of the United States, in a letter by Iran’s foreign minister to the secretary general of the United Nations, was among the most strident yet in a steadily increasing display of anger from Iran over American use of the assets, validated in an April 20 decision by the Supreme Court.
“The entire court proceedings which led to the recent ruling has been fake and phony and a travesty of justice in every sense of law, jurisdiction, merit, fact and process,” the foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, wrote in the letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, which was released by Iran’s United Nations Mission.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran 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,” Mr. Zarif wrote.
“It is in fact the United States that must pay long overdue reparations to the Iranian people for its persistent hostile policies,” Mr. Zarif wrote.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran reserves the right to take appropriate lawful action, including necessary and proportionate countermeasures, to restore and protect the rights of the Iranian people against such persistent unlawful conduct by the United States,” he wrote.
Mr. Zarif asked for Mr. Ban’s help “to induce the U.S. government to adhere to its international obligations” by releasing Iran’s assets and asked that Mr. Ban circulate the letter as a document in the General Assembly and Security Council. There was no immediate comment from Mr. Ban’s office or the State Department.
END