State Department legal advisers defended the Trump administration’s reimposition of sanctions against Iran as justified national security measures during the second day of a trial pitting the enemy nations against each other at the United Nations’ highest court Tuesday.
“The United States does intend, lawfully and for good reason, to bring heavy pressure to bear on the Iranian leadership to change their ways,” State Department lawyer Jennifer Newstead told judges at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
“We do this in the interests of U.S. national security as well as in pursuit of a more peaceful Middle East and a more peaceful world,” Ms. Newstead added.
Iran petitioned the ICJ last month to consider whether sanctions the U.S. has begun reimposing as part of its withdrawal from the Obama-era Iranian nuclear deal violate a little-known 1955 friendship agreement between the two countries, called the Treaty of Amity.
U.S. officials, including Ms. Newstead, have argued that the treaty — signed at a moment when Iran and the U.S. enjoyed strong diplomatic relations — is null and void in today’s environment of animosity.
Regional experts say the trial, which began Monday, is a sign of the Iranian government’s growing desperation to preserve the nation’s economy as new sanctions begin to bite.
Private analysts have told The Washington Times that Tehran’s legal maneuvering has exposed increasing frustration in Iran, where the ruling regime has been rocked by domestic protests and a stream of foreign partners canceling investment deals in the wake of President Trump’s decision in May to withdraw from the nuclear deal.
Unemployment is high in Iran and the Trump administration’s renewed U.S. pressure campaign on Tehran has sent the value of the Iranian rial plummeting.
Washington is poised to soon impose far more painful sanctions on Iran’s critical oil export sector starting November 5, with a stated goal of driving Iranian oil and gas sales to zero.
Mr. Trump and his advisers argue the 2015 nuclear deal was a disaster because it failed to address support that Iran, which the U.S. lists as a state sponsor of terrorism, gives to proxy militias meddling in the affairs of other nations around the Middle East.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki R. Haley warned Iran on Tuesday to stop arming Houthi militias in Yemen and seek a political solution to the lingering war at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Speaking at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, Mrs. Haley claimed that Iran is using civilians as human shields in battle and said she plans to introduce a U.N. General Assembly resolution addressing the issue.
In a rare press conference at the Pentagon, meanwhile, Defense Secretary James Mattis stressed that Washington will hold Iran accountable for its actions across the Middle East.
As for the ICJ hearing, it is scheduled to conclude by the end of this week, with a decision expected within a month. ICJ rulings are binding, although the body has no power to enforce them. Both Iran and the U.S. have ignored past verdicts by the court.
• Dan Boylan can be reached at dboylan@washingtontimes.com.
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