U.S. vows to resist as Iran asks U.N. court to nix sanctions

The United Nations’ highest court on Monday began hearing a lawsuit brought by Iran against U.S. sanctions ordered by the Trump administration, a sign, experts say, of Tehran’s growing desperation to preserve its economy since Washington unilaterally pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal.

While Tehran has angrily condemned the economic sanctions, the White House has only accelerated its campaign to pressure other countries to cut their own commercial and financial ties to Tehran and immediately vowed to fight Iran’s petition at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

“The proceedings instituted by Iran are a misuse of the court,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in statement Monday.

Private analysts say the ICJ suit is a sign of increasing fear and frustration in Iran, where the regime has been rocked by a string of domestic economic protests even as a steady stream of foreign partners have canceled deals and investment following the U.S. withdrawal from the deal in May. Unemployment is high and the U.S. pressure campaign has sent the value of the Iranian rial plummeting.

“The court case is a sign of desperation,” said Ahmad Majidyar, the director of the IranObserved Project at the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

Iran filed its case at the ICJ in July, said the new U.S. sanctions should be suspended indefinitely because they violate a little-known 1955 friendship agreement between the two countries, known as the Treaty of Amity. Iranian representative Mohsen Mohebi told the court Mr. Trump’s sanctions policy was “nothing but a naked economic aggression against my country,” according to The Associated Press.

On Tuesday, U.S. lawyers are scheduled to formally respond and are expected to argue the global court lacks the jurisdiction to rule on the sanctions Washington is reimposing on Iran and its trading partners.

They could also argue that the 1955 friendship treaty is no longer valid, superseded by Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, which has triggered decades of hostility between Washington and Tehran. So far, however, the ICJ has ruled the 1955 treaty remains valid.

The hearing is scheduled to conclude by the end of this week, with a decision expected within a month. The court’s rulings are binding but it has no power to enforce them, with countries, including the U.S., choosing to ignore past verdicts.

Since May, when President Trump withdrew the U.S. from 2015 nuclear deal that had curbed Tehran’s nuclear programs in exchange for lifting international economic sanctions — Iran’s economy has faced tough sailing. In early August, Washington re-imposed sanctions targeting Iran’s automotive industry, debt sector and metals trade.

The other signatories to the deal — Britain, Germany, France, China and Russia — have pledged to resist the U.S. sanctions and keep trading with Iran, but many private companies such as Dutch airline KLM and French oil giant Total have pulled the plug on previously announced deals with Iran, citing the fear for U.S. sanctions and being blocked from the far larger U.S. market.

The U.S. is poised to impose far more painful sanctions on Iran’s critical oil export sector starting November 5, with a stated goal of driving Iran oil and gas sales to zero.

On Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the U.S. of waging “psychological war” against Tehran and its business partners.

Separately on Monday, Iran’s Defense Ministry has shut down more than 130 of its companies, defense officials announced, according to the AP. In statements, Defense Minister Amir Hatami said the closures would effect the transportation, energy and construction sectors, including Iran Air Tours, the Tehran-based airline.

Mr. Hatami said the closure aimed to reduce the role of the military in the overall economy, which Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered earlier this year.