Iran’s UN ambassador called on the world community to confront the threats the United States poses to global order by backtracking on its international obligations, launching trade wars and slapping sanctions on other nations.
In an address to a meeting of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly’s Sixth Committee (Legal Committee) on Tuesday, Gholamali Khoshroo said the world had to act “immediately and decisively” in the face of such US threats, Press TV reported.
“Each and every member of the UN has a duty to stand up to US wrongful acts and contempt for the rule of law in international relations,” he said.
The senior diplomat said Washington’s measures all constitute instances of “unilateralism,” adding, “Today, multilateralism has come under attack.”
Khoshroo called the US sanctions and its departure from international agreements – such as the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran – a “serious threat” to the UN Charter and a violation of the international legal order.
For the first time in the United Nation’s history, the US, as a permanent veto-holding member, is punishing other nations the world over for their adherence to a UN Security Council resolution, the envoy noted.
He was referring to a US pressure campaign aimed at killing Europe’s business ties with Iran after Washington scrapped the 2015 nuclear deal, which had been ratified in the form of Security Council Resolution 2231.
After leaving the deal and starting to reimpose the anti-Tehran sanctions it had lifted under the international document, Washington began threatening countries continuing to do business with Iran despite the bans with “secondary sanctions.”
“How can Iran and others trust the US while it is threatening to punish other countries for the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution it sponsored and voted for?” said Khoshroo.
“A permanent member of the UN Security Council is asking others to violate the Security Council resolution; there is no precedent for such a move,” the Iranian official added.
The diplomat also warned the international community against the repercussions of such US policies.
He also denounced the US for “unlawfully” seizing billions of dollars’ worth of assets belonging to the Iranian government and Central Bank, describing the move as a blatant violation of international law.
 

Iranian Navy’s 57th Flotilla of warships docked at the Pakistani port of Karachi for goodwill-cum-training visit.
The visit by the Iranian flotilla is in line with great maritime tradition and to strengthen the existing cordial relations between the two countries, Captain Amir Hosseini Aranai, the commander of the Iranian flotilla told IRNA on Wednesday. 
Pakistan Navy senior officers welcomed the Iranian naval fleet including ‘Neza’, ‘Khanjar’ and ‘Bushehr’ navy ships.
The commander said that during the three-day stay at Karachi, Iran and Pakistan navies will hold joint drills in Pakistani seas.
Historically, Iran and Pakistan have enjoyed cordial relations since Pakistan’s independence in 1947. The two friendly and neighboring countries enjoy vast defense relations and cooperation.
In recent years, Iran’s Naval Forces have increased their presence in international waters to secure naval routes and protect merchant vessels and oil tankers against pirates.
 

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The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) heard Iran’s arguments against the US in a new showdown between the two sides over the freezing by Washington of billions of dollars of Iranian assets either inside or outside of America under domestic court rulings.
It came just days after the tribunal handed Tehran a victory in a separate case.
At the beginning of the hearing at the ICJ, the head of the Iranian delegation, Mohsen Mohebi said that the Treaty of Amity, signed between Tehran and Washington in 1955 will consist of all bilateral economic relations, and that US behavior towards corporations and Iranian entities, including the Central Bank, is grossly in violation of this treaty.
He said the US reported withdrawal from the treaty will not have any effect on the current case.
“The history of US-Iran relations has not and must not become (a reason) that the Amity Treaty cannot settle the two sides’ disputes,” he said, adding that Washington in the past, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has taken action against Iran in the court based on the treaty, hence recognizing its jurisdiction.
Iran’s lawyers then presented the court with figures and statistics showing the two sides’ recent import-export level which, in contrast with US court’s arguments, proves Washington and Tehran have had trade relations after the Islamic Revolution.
The US lawyers maintain that since the country has had no official relations, especially in terms of economy, with Tehran after the Islamic Revolution, the treaty cannot be a base for legal action against Washington.
Iran’s lawyers also rejected the US terrorism accusations against Iran, saying that such claims have no legal base whatsoever and have only been made by the US unilaterally.
The court held the first hearing in the case on Monday, when American lawyers brought their arguments before the body, repeating Washington’s allegations against Iran of involvement in ‘terrorism’ or ‘financing’ it.
Iran had lodged the case with the court two years ago by invoking the Treaty of Amity, signed between Tehran and Washington in 1955.
The US has also argued that the ICJ does not have jurisdiction over the case. Washington quit the treaty last week after it was defeated in the previous case over US sanctions on Iran, which was also based on the same deal.
In a definitive victory for Tehran, the International Court of Justice ordered Washington to halt unilateral sanctions that endanger the flow of ‘humanitarian’ supplies into Iran.
The case saw Iran litigating against the US over its re-imposition of anti-Iran sanctions.
The White House began reintroducing the bans in August after quitting a multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran.
In the verdict, the ICJ ordered that the United States lift the sanctions targeting ‘humanitarian’ items.
The ICJ – also known after the World Court -- was set up after World War II to rule on disputes between United Nations member states. Its rulings are binding.

Italian court rejects US appeal

In another development, the Rome Appeal Court rejected US appeal to seize Iran’s central bank’s property valued at $5 billion, said Mohebi, according to the president’s official website.
“Following the efforts of Iranian Central Bank and its lawyers in Italy, the order to seize the property of Iran’s Central Bank in Italy was canceled,” Mohebi said.
“The Rome Court, based on Italian regulation, in June 2018 had been issued a garnishee order and temporarily seized all Central Bank property.” he said.


 

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani appreciated the positive role played by Qatar in the region, stressing the need for developing bilateral political and economic relations with Doha, IRNA reported.
During his meeting with Qatari Speaker of the Advisory Council Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, Larijani described any hegemonic temptation in the world as ineffective.
The Qatari speaker also said that his country has great respect for Iran.
During Tuesday’s meeting with a Pakistani Senate official on the sidelines of a conference of Eurasian states’ parliaments in Turkey’s Antalya, Larijani blamed the United States for obstructing the sale of Iranian gas to Pakistan, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Iran’s section of the Iran-Pakistan pipeline was complete and the gas supply is also ready, according to Larijani.
Larijani said certain parties are opposed to cooperation between Tehran and Islamabad.
“Under the contract between Iran and Pakistan, the gas pipeline (on Iran’s soil) has reached the border, and the gas (supply) is also ready, but the US is said to be putting obstacles, because it is mad at your (Pakistan’s) progress and is against the export of gas to Pakistan,” Larijani told Deputy Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan Saleem Mandviwalla.
The senior Pakistani lawmaker said his country’s new government is behind the project and wants it completed immediately.  
Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, which stretches for 900 kilometers only in Iran, has been designed to help populous Pakistan overcome its growing energy needs.
Pakistan has fallen short of constructing the 700-kilometer part of the pipeline on its territory.
In August, Iran’s Ambassador to Islamabad Mehdi Honardoost said Iran has spent more than $2 billion on the gas pipeline project and fulfilled much of its commitments, noting that only a 180-kilometer part of the pipeline on the Iranian soil remains to be completed.
“Should Pakistan take a positive step, we will rapidly finish the remaining section,” the envoy said at the time.


 

Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned on Wednesday the German ambassador to Tehran to protest against a verdict issued in Germany on handing over an Iranian diplomat to Belgium.