The United States said on Wednesday it was "disappointed" by the International Court of Justice’s ruling that it can take up Iran's bid to overturn US sanctions, the AFP has reported.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the new US State Department claimed it had "great respect" for the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the Biden administration was “disappointed” that the court did not accept their alleged “well-founded legal arguments that the case Iran brought is outside the court's jurisdiction."
He criticized Iran for casting the ruling as a victory, saying that the court had issued "a preliminary ruling, not a decision on the merits."
"In the next phase of this case we'll explain why Iran's claim has no merits," Price claimed.
The previous US administration Donald Trump’s pulled his country out of the Iran nuclear deal or the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018 and illegally and unilaterally imposed the toughest and most unprecedented sanctions on the Iranian nation.
Iran has so far taken some steps away from the deal amid the lack of action by the European parties to deal to make up for Iran’s losses as a result of the illegal Trump administration’ moves.
The Iranian parliament passed a bill, dubbed the Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions in early last December, setting a Feb. 21 deadline for Biden to lift the US sanctions. Otherwise, Iran will halt inspections of its nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and further boost uranium enrichment.
Iran has so far resumed 20% uranium enrichment at Fordow plant in accordance with the Parliament’s legislation and has warned that in the case Washington does not remove all the anti-Iran sanctions, it will also stop voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol, which gives IAEA inspectors unannounced visits to Iranian facilities.
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