BICOM

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) decided yesterday that US sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear programme must not prevent humanitarian goods entering the country.

The judges at the court in The Hague ruled unanimously that sanctions on some goods breached the 1955 Treaty of Amity between Iran and the US that predates Iran’s Islamic revolution. As a result, it ordered the US to “remove, by means of its choosing, any impediments arising from US sanctions to the trade of medicines and medical devices, foodstuffs and agricultural commodities, and spare parts, equipment and services necessary for the safety of civil aviation.”

The court also said the reasons given by the Trump administration for re-imposing sanctions were unfounded because the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly confirmed Iran was complying with the terms of the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran is abusing the ICJ for political ends and described the ruling as a “defeat for Iran” because the court “rightly rejected all of Iran’s baseless requests”. He confirmed that the US will also terminate the Treaty of Amity, saying: “This is a decision that is, frankly, 39 years overdue.” There is a one year waiting period to withdraw from the treaty.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the decision “vindicates the Islamic Republic of Iran and confirms the illegitimacy and oppressiveness” of US sanctions. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zariff tweeted: “US abrogated JCPOA – a multilateral accord enshrined in UNSC Resolution 2231 – arguing that it seeks a bilateral treaty with Iran. Today US withdrew from an actual US-Iran treaty after the ICJ ordered it to stop violating that treaty in sanctioning Iranian people. Outlaw regime.”

US National Security Advisor John Bolton announced yesterday that the US will withdraw from the optional protocol that establishes ICJ jurisdiction over violations of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Bolton indicated that the withdrawal was linked to a recent Palestinian petition to the ICJ challenging the US decision to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.