In a message in his Twitter account, Zarif said Iran has on Monday filed a complaint at the ICJ “to hold US accountable for its unlawful re-imposition of unilateral sanctions.”
“Iran is committed to the rule of law in the face of US contempt for diplomacy and legal obligations. It's imperative to counter its habit of violating int'l law,” the top Iranian diplomat added.
On May 8, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers that was reached in 2015 after two years of talks. Trump also said he would reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.
In comments in July 2017, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei called on Iran’s Judiciary to legally pursue international issues and declare its stances on various subjects, such as sanctions or the US freeze on Iran’s assets.
“The Judiciary should act through a legal position on issues such as sanctions, American confiscations (of Iran’s assets), terrorism, or support for the world’s oppressed characters like (Nigerian cleric) Sheikh Zakzaky or support for Muslims in Myanmar and Kashmir,” Ayatollah Khamenei had said in a meeting with Judiciary officials.