ICJ’s Rulings Must Be Enforced: Iran VP

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a weekly cabinet session on Wednesday, La’ya Joneidi hailed the top UN court’s ruling that the US should ensure that sanctions against Iran do not impact humanitarian aid or civil aviation safety.

She also dismissed speculation that there is no guarantee the ICJ could enforce its rulings, saying, “In the international law, the guarantee of enforcement of verdicts is proportional to the international community. There is no more powerful tribunal in the world than the International Court of Justice, which is a UN organization. Thus, if we say that the rulings handed down by this court have no guarantee to be implemented, then we should conclude that the international law is worthless.”

As regards the US anger at the ICJ’s verdict in favor of Iran, Joneidi underlined that the UN member states are bound to honor the court rulings.

Hailing the outcomes of the pro-Iran rulings, the vice president said it empowers UN members to follow up on the case and also provides better conditions for the companies intending to work with Iran.

On Wednesday, the ICJ found that assurances offered by Washington in August that it would do its best to ensure sanctions would not affect humanitarian conditions were “not adequate to address fully the humanitarian and safety concerns raised” by Iran.

In its provisional verdict, the ICJ ruled that the US government should lift all bans on the free export of humanitarian goods like food and medicine to Iran which have been re-imposed after Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The ICJ, which is based in The Hague and is also known as the World Court, is the United Nations tribunal for resolving international disputes. Iran’s filing asks the ICJ to order the United States to provisionally lift its sanctions ahead of more detailed arguments.