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Iran to Submit New Documents in Case Against U.S.
TEHRAN, Sept 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iran has been authorized to submit additional documents in connection with its case against the United States over the destruction of an Iranian oil platform, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was quoted by the U.N. Information Center (UNIC) in Tehran as saying late Sunday.
ICJ Vice President Shi Jiuyong authorized Tehran to submit a new written plea in the case, which was filed in 1992, reported the state-run Iranian News Agency, IRNA.
Iran says that in 1987 and 1988, warships from the U.S. Navy destroyed three Iranian offshore oil production complexes in breach of a treaty between the two countries.
The Iran-U.S. Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights, signed in 1955, stipulates that, "there shall be firm and enduring peace and sincere friendship between the United States of America and Iran."
Article 10 of the treaty provides for "freedom of commerce and navigation" between the two countries. Tehran contends that the U.S. is under obligation to make reparations to Iran "for the violation of international legal obligations".
The Hague-based ICJ gave Iran until September 24th to file its additional documents in the case.
Iranian-U.S. relations have been tense for almost two decades. After the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979 by nearly 400 students, 52 of the embassy's staff were held captive for nearly 15 months, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Since the election of President Mohammad Khatami in 1997, ties have considerably improved, with both countries exchanging a number of delegations and participation in sports events.
Last year, Washington lifted a ban on the import of Iranian pistachios, caviar and carpets, which had been banned since the imposition of unilateral sanctions by the U.S.
In August, the U.S. government extended sanctions for another five years, much to the dismay of American oil companies, which have slammed the U.S. for depriving the firms of the opportunity to participate in lucrative investments in Iranian oil and gas development projects.
The sanctions, imposed under the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, were first enforced in 1996 and punish any firm that invests more than $20 million in the energy sector of either country.
European and Asian oil companies have defied the sanctions by entering into dozens of oil and gas deals worth billions of dollars with the Islamic Republic, and are reportedly set to enter into more.
Iran has conditioned resumption of ties with the U.S. on a lifting of the sanctions and an unfreezing of some $10 billion of Iranian assets held by U.S. banks since November 1980.
In other developments, on Monday, the English-language Tehran Times said part of the former U.S. embassy, which Iran calls "the Den of Spies", would be turned into an exhibit to publicly display memorabilia connected with the 1979 takeover.
The exhibit will be open on November 4th, the 22nd anniversary of the takeover, will be open to foreign and Iranian visitors, and will showcase public tools and apparatus used by the American personnel for espionage purposes, said the paper.
After Washington severed ties with Tehran in 1979, Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards began using the building as a military headquarters.
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