U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that Washington will "vigorously defend" itself in a case brought by Iran in The Hague to protest the U.S. exit of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the reimposition of sanctions that were lifted under the accord was finalized.
In a statement, Pompeo said that Iran's filing with the International Court of Justice was "meritless," asserting that it is "an attempt to interfere with the sovereign rights of the United States to take lawful actions, including re-imposition of sanctions, which are necessary to protect our national security."
Iran warned Monday that reimposed U.S. sanctions would cripple its economy and plunge the volatile Middle East deeper into crisis. It urged the United Nations' highest court to suspend the Trump administration's economic pressure on Tehran.
President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of a 2015 agreement on May 8. Besides reinstating sanctions on Iran, Washington also threatened other countries with sanctions if they did not cut off Iranian oil imports by early November.
Iran filed an ICJ motion challenging the reimposition in July. Tehran alleges that the sanctions breach a 1955 bilateral agreement known as the Treaty of Amity that regulates and promotes economic and consular ties between the two countries.
The treaty was signed when the U.S. and Iran were still allies following the 1953 revolution – fomented by Britain and the U.S. – that ultimately cemented the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
However, diplomatic relations were severed following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and takeover of the U.S. Embassy and ensuing hostage crisis. Despite that dramatic deterioration in relations, the treaty remains in force.
Iran and the U.S. have a history of litigation at the ICJ, in cases covering crises including the embassy seizure and the shooting down of an Iranian passenger jet mistaken by a U.S. warship for a fighter jet.
Rulings by the world court, which settles disputes between nations, are final and legally binding. However, it remains to be seen if the U.S. would abide by a court order to suspend sanctions on Iran.
Pompeo said, "The proceedings instituted by Iran are a misuse of the court," adding that Washington "will vigorously defend against Iran's meritless claims this week in The Hague," and to continue to work with allies to counter Iran's regional influence and ballistic missile program.
At Monday's hearings, Tehran asked judges to urgently order a suspension of the sanctions while the case challenging their legality is being heard – a process that can take years. A decision on the urgent request for a suspension is likely to take weeks.
Iranian representative Mohsen Mohebi told the court the U.S. sanctions are a clear breach of the 1955 treaty because they are "intended to damage, as severely as possible, Iran's economy." He called Trump's sanctions policy "nothing but a naked economic aggression against my country." Mohebi also warned that the sanctions could exacerbate regional tensions.
Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, brokered when Barack Obama was still in the White House, imposed restrictions on the Islamic republic's nuclear program in return for the lifting of most U.S. and international sanctions against Tehran.
However, the deal came with time limits and did not address Iran's ballistic missile program or its regional policies in Syria and elsewhere. Trump called the accord the "worst deal ever."
Some U.S. allies oppose the sanctions and are seeking to keep the nuclear deal alive. Last week, the European Union announced a financial support package to help bolster Iran's flagging economy.
The United States, which argues that the court does not have jurisdiction in the case, is to present its legal arguments to judges on Tuesday.
