Majlis Tit-for-Tat Move Against U.S. Welcome With Call to Remove Ambiguities
November 1, 2000 - 0:0
TEHRAN The Majlis here on Tuesday approved an "extremely urgent" motion proposed by certain MPs intended to retaliate against recent legislation passed by the U.S. Congress to freeze Iranian assets not already frozen since the Islamic Revolution, IRNA reported.
Observers here welcome the move of the Majlis, but raise certain questions which must be answered by concerned authorities.
Question 1: Where and how should Iranians who have, directly or indirectly, been victims of U.S. arrogance file a complaint? Question 2: How will a plaintiff who has proven charges against the United States be compensated? The motion authorizes Iranian "victims of U.S. interference" to sue the United States in Iranian courts for physical, compensatory or moral damages sustained as a result of any such interference.
"Since the U.S. government has tried to freeze Iranian assets and the move amounts to a seizure of our national interests, the only way to confront the move is to approve reciprocal legislation," said Mohsen Mirdamadi, head of the Majlis Committee for National Security and Foreign Policy.
"This legislation was passed unanimously by the U.S. Congress and the U.S. executive body is impotent in stopping it," he said.
"So far, three American courts have issued verdicts against the Islamic Republic amounting to 1 billion dollars.
" He added: "Three more complaints totaling 2 billion dollars are also being reviewed in local courts." Mirdamadi said the Fifth Majlis adopted a similar motion which failed to materialize.
"The victims of U.S. interference in Iran, as a result of the 1953 coup, should be able to file suits just as Americans have," he noted.
Washington said earlier this week that it would use more than $400 million in Iranian assets still frozen in the United States to secure payment of indemnities amounting to $213 million in favor of eight families awarded by a court in a class suit against Iran.
The U.S. Treasury, in accordance with the judgment, is authorized to pay the families the indemnity awarded to them in a multiple lawsuit filed against Iran, setting a precedent for foreign countries to pay damages to victims of cases brought under a 1996 antiterrorism law.
But an official at the Iranian mission at the United Nations told the Washington Post that Iran does not recognize judgments rendered by U.S. courts.
Washington has accused Iran of being behind the kidnapping of 18 U.S. nationals during the civil war in Lebanon in the 1980s.
Iran and the U.S. severed diplomatic ties in 1980, after Muslim students following the Imam's line took 52 U.S. embassy staff members in Tehran hostage.
Observers here welcome the move of the Majlis, but raise certain questions which must be answered by concerned authorities.
Question 1: Where and how should Iranians who have, directly or indirectly, been victims of U.S. arrogance file a complaint? Question 2: How will a plaintiff who has proven charges against the United States be compensated? The motion authorizes Iranian "victims of U.S. interference" to sue the United States in Iranian courts for physical, compensatory or moral damages sustained as a result of any such interference.
"Since the U.S. government has tried to freeze Iranian assets and the move amounts to a seizure of our national interests, the only way to confront the move is to approve reciprocal legislation," said Mohsen Mirdamadi, head of the Majlis Committee for National Security and Foreign Policy.
"This legislation was passed unanimously by the U.S. Congress and the U.S. executive body is impotent in stopping it," he said.
"So far, three American courts have issued verdicts against the Islamic Republic amounting to 1 billion dollars.
" He added: "Three more complaints totaling 2 billion dollars are also being reviewed in local courts." Mirdamadi said the Fifth Majlis adopted a similar motion which failed to materialize.
"The victims of U.S. interference in Iran, as a result of the 1953 coup, should be able to file suits just as Americans have," he noted.
Washington said earlier this week that it would use more than $400 million in Iranian assets still frozen in the United States to secure payment of indemnities amounting to $213 million in favor of eight families awarded by a court in a class suit against Iran.
The U.S. Treasury, in accordance with the judgment, is authorized to pay the families the indemnity awarded to them in a multiple lawsuit filed against Iran, setting a precedent for foreign countries to pay damages to victims of cases brought under a 1996 antiterrorism law.
But an official at the Iranian mission at the United Nations told the Washington Post that Iran does not recognize judgments rendered by U.S. courts.
Washington has accused Iran of being behind the kidnapping of 18 U.S. nationals during the civil war in Lebanon in the 1980s.
Iran and the U.S. severed diplomatic ties in 1980, after Muslim students following the Imam's line took 52 U.S. embassy staff members in Tehran hostage.