The United States is terminating the 1955 Treaty of Amity with Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday. Pompeo's announcement follows a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations' top court, ordering the United States to lift sanctions on humanitarian goods to Iran.
Iran filed a lawsuit against the US at the ICJ in July, arguing that the sanctions violate the friendship agreement signed in 1955 between the two countries when Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was in power. The treaty, which established economic relations and consular rights between the two nations, continued to remain in force following the 1979 Islamic Revolution despite diplomatic tensions between Tehran and Washington.
The ICJ unanimously ruled that Washington "shall remove by means of its choosing any impediments arising from the measures announced on May 8 to the free exportation to Iran of medicines and medical devices, food and agricultural commodities."
The Netherlands-based court said sanction on goods "required for humanitarian needs... may have a serious detrimental impact on the health and lives of individuals on the territory of Iran."
Decisions made by the ICJ are binding and cannot be appealed, but the court has no means of enforcing its rulings.
Pompeo rejected the court's decision, saying the court has no jurisdiction.
"The decision proved once again that the Islamic Republic is right and the US sanctions against people and citizens of our country are illegal and cruel," Iran's foreign ministry said.
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