Publish Date: 24 October 2018 - 17:08

TEHRAN, Oct. 24 (MNA) – Imposition of sanctions against Iran on November 4 would be a violation of International Court of Justice ruling by the US, said Iranian Vice-President for Legal Affairs Laya Joneydi.

As per the ICJ interim order, the United States is required to lift sanctions regarding civil aviation, humanitarian goods, and medicines, she told reporters after the cabinet session on Wednesday.

A part of the interim ruling reads that both Parties must refrain from any action which might aggravate or extend the dispute, Joneydi highlighted.

However, currently, the US has violated this article two or three times, she said, adding that the US withdrawal from the 1955 Treaty of Amity is one instance of violations.

In its interim order regarding the case on October 3, ICJ voted in favor of Iran, saying that the US sanctions imposed in May against Iran violate the terms of their 1955 Treaty of Amity and asked the US to lift its sanctions against Iran linked to civil aviation, humanitarian goods, and medicines.

In reaction to ICJ ruling, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that Iran is abusing the ICJ, and added that “the United States is terminating the Treaty of Amity with Iran.”

The Court fixed 10 April 2019 and 10 October 2019 as the respective time-limits for the filing of a Memorial by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and a Counter-Memorial by the United States of America, to further study the case and issue the final order.

The 1955 US-Iran Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights was signed during the terms of US president Dwight Eisenhower and Iranian Prime Minister Hossein Ala. According to Nationalinterest website, the treaty consists of an introduction and twenty-three articles. It emphasizes friendly relations while encouraging mutual trade and investments and regulating consular relations. The treaty was signed by Mostafa Samiy (the Iranian deputy of the ministry of foreign affairs) and Selden Chapin (the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States) at Tehran just a week before the second anniversary of the 1953 Coup. The treaty came into force in June 1957, one month after the day of exchange of the instruments of ratification at Tehran. Ever since it’s provided the legal framework for bilateral relations between Iran and the United States.

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