Iran filed a lawsuit against the U.S. on Tuesday, alleging that the Trump administration’s decision to hit the country with new sanctions after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal was in violation of a decades-old treaty.
Reuters reported Tuesday that Iran made the filing in the International Court of Justice, which is also known as the World Court and serves as the United Nation’s court for international disputes. Iran is requesting that the U.S. lift the sanctions ahead of further debates on the lawsuit.
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal in May, saying that old sanctions would be put back in place and that the U.S. “will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction.”
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The filing claims that the withdrawal from the deal “has violated and continued to violate multiple provisions” of the Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights,” signed in 1955, according to Reuters.
“Iran is committed to the rule of law in the face of U.S. contempt for diplomacy and legal obligations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a statement Monday.
Iran filed a suit in 2016 based off the same treaty. The U.S. government has argued that the ICJ lacks jurisdiction in the dispute, and hearings in the case will take place in October, the wire service reported.
The ICJ is the highest court within the United Nations and its decisions are binding; however, it lacks the authority to enforce them, meaning countries like the U.S. sometimes ignore the decisions, Reuters noted.