Iran says US must pay $130B after UN highest court ruling
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Iran has ordered the U.S. to pay $130 billion in damages after the U.N.’s highest court ruled that the Trump administration must ease sanctions against the country.
Iran’s top court announced the ruling after receiving up to 360 complaints from Iranian citizens since President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA), popularly known as the Iran nuclear deal, Newsweek reported Tuesday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo initially dismissed the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ’s) October 2018 ruling that the U.S. must “remove, by means of its choosing, any impediments” to Iran’s access to “goods related to food, medicine, aviation and humanitarian services,” saying Iran had abused the court.
President Hassan Rouhani speaks in a public gathering at the city of Yazd, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019. (Office of the Iranian Presidency via AP)
The IJC, however, ruled against the U.S. again in February 2019.
“The judges … unanimously rejected the U.S. claim that the case was an abuse of process and that it should be thrown out due to Tehran’s ‘unclean hands,’ the U.S. having cited Iran’s alleged sponsorship of terrorism and alleged ambitions to develop nuclear weapons,” a press release from the U.N. following the IJC’s ruling stated.
The country’s demands came the same day Undersecretary of Defense for Policy John Rood told reporters that the Iranian military currently poses a threat to the U.S. in response to sanctions, according to The Hill.
“We do remain concerned about potential Iranian aggression,” Rood said. “We also continue to see indications … [that] potential Iranian aggression could occur.”
He added that the U.S. has “sent very clear and blunt signals to the Iranian government about the potential consequences of aggression.”
Gen. Hossein Salami, head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, accused the U.S. and the U.K. on Nov. 25 of fueling unrest in Tehran and threatened to “destroy” adversaries.
“If you cross our red line, we will destroy you,” he said. “We will not leave any move unanswered.”
Story reported by Fox
