No Will in US to End Hostilities toward Iranian Nation: Spokesman
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry censured a recent decision by the US to seize nearly $2 billion of the Central Bank of Iran’s assets, saying that the move proved there is no end to Washington’s long history of hostilities toward the Iranian nation.
“Politically, to the Iranian nation and government the move means that there is no will in the US to put an end to the long history of (its hostile approach) in dealing with the Iranian people and their interests…,” Hossein Jaberi Ansari told reporters in his weekly press briefing in Tehran on Monday.
The spokesman added that such measures by the US government will only lead to the deterioration of the situation.
He further emphasized that the move indicates the US’s disrespect for international laws and regulations.
On Wednesday, 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.
