The double-urgency bill, in five articles, was adopted during Parliament’s open session on Tuesday with 174 ayes, 7 nays, and 4 abstentions.
The law requires the government for ‘retaliatory measures’ against US encroachments on Iranian assets.
MP Ebrahim Karkhanei in support of the bill said, “the US must pay compensations for the damages caused by its crimes against the Iranian nation. We must have a bill to counter the rules issued by American courts on misappropriation of Iranian assets.”
Another MP, Kamaloddin Pir Moazen, said while he had no objection against the general outline of the bill, it has not been well-thought-out, since there are too many rules involved about this matter.
Hassan Ghashghavi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, expressed his objection to the bill, but said, “the US measures are a blatant violation of international conventions and there is consensus about that.”
He went on to add that the International Court of Justice also rejects the US decision on seizing Iranian assets.
He deemed America’s justice system the post politicized in the world, adding “the criterion of truth and falsehood in the US is the Zionist lobby.”
Ghashghavi stressed that while the Foreign Ministry is not against the general outline of the bill, the National Security Council did not reach a quorum for reviewing the bill on Monday. He went on to add that the legal issues of the bill did not have sufficient finesse, and executive regulations of this bill have not been yet developed.
Ultimately, despite the objection from the Foreign Ministry, the bill was approved by 82 per cent of votes in favor.
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