UN Says Ready to Resolve Tehran-Washington Dispute over Court Ruling
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United Nations announced that it is ready to help settle a dispute between Tehran and Washington over a recent ruling by the US Supreme Court allowing the transfer of some $2 billion of frozen Iranian assets to the families of the victims of a 1983 bombing in Beirut.
The announcement came after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday asking him to intervene with his "good offices" after the ruling was issued by the court.
UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Friday confirmed receipt of Zarif's letter and said, "We'll obviously take a look at it.”
"As a matter of principle ... the Secretary-General's good offices are always available should both parties to whatever tensions or issue request it,” he added as cited by Reuters.
Earlier, the Iranian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the ruling by the US Supreme Court and said it “contradicts the basic principles of the international laws”.
On April 20, the US Supreme Court upheld the Congress and President Barack Obama’s actions to hold Iran financially responsible for the 1983 bombing that killed 241 Marines at their barracks in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
The ruling allows the families of the Marines and victims of other attacks that courts have linked to Iran to seize some $2 billion in assets held in New York’s Citibank, belonging to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), which has been blocked under US sanctions.
In 2012, the US Congress passed a law that specifically directed the American banks to turn over the Iranian assets to victims’ families. Obama also entered the battle in an effort to force the payments on Iran.
