Maryam Jalalvand, an Iranian lawyer from Tehran University, has said that the U.S. has violated international law by freezing nearly $2 billion of Iranian assets.

In an interview with Sputnik published on Monday, Jalalvand said that “for many years now, the U.S. has been making false accusations against Iran.”

“On the basis of these accusations, Washington has been making illegal decisions to freeze Iranian assets and property, which is a direct violation of international law,” she explained.

She said that a lawyer representing the interests of the U.S. Department claimed during the first meeting of the ICJ in The Hague that Iran is allegedly an accomplice in terror attack in Lebanon in 1983 and will be held responsible for this under U.S. law.

“In response, Iranian lawyers accused the U.S. of speculation on the terrorist threat from Iran, stressing that Washington is trying to evade responsibility and hush up the discussion of the main issue for which a meeting was convened, namely, the illegal alienation of Iranian property,” Jalalvand said.

In June 2016, Iran announced that it had filed a formal complaint with the UN’s top court to recover nearly $2 billion in assets frozen in the United States.

NA/PA