Tehran warns to take Washington to ICJ if it continues to harass its diplomats

Iran has warned the United States over its “illegal actions” against Iranian diplomats at the UN and other international organizations, saying it will take Washington to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) if it does not halt its hostile measures.

In a statement on Saturday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said an official note was sent to the US through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests in Iran, on Washington’s violation of the rights of Iranian diplomats and their families.

The US, under Donald Trump, pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” against Iran, which included an unprecedented amount of sanctions against the Iranian government, companies and individuals. The US sanctioned Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in 2019.

Washington has also spared no efforts to harass Iranian diplomats, as well as their families, at the UN and other international organizations based in the US, prompting the UN General Assembly to call for the lifting of restrictions imposed against Iranian diplomats residing in New York.

In September 2019, the US rejected a request by Zarif to visit Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Majid Takht-Ravanchi in a New York hospital where he was being treated for cancer, saying Zarif’s request would be granted if Iran released one of several American citizens it had detained. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said “disgrace will be left for a government that takes humanitarian issues hostage for its political goals.”

US blocks Zarif from visiting ill colleague at New York hospital

The US has blocked Iran

In yet another belligerent attitude toward Iranian diplomats in October 2020, a Republican lawmaker said the US should respond “forcefully” against Iranian diplomats who are in the country in retaliation for what he claimed was the hacking of the 2020 US presidential election.

Speaking with Fox News, Lee Zeldin said he believes it is “extremely important” that the US government respond to the allegations “whether that means offensive cyber activities, additional financial sanctions, or the revocation of visas for Iranian diplomats.”

“I believe that it would be an important action for the United States to take, to revoke the visas of the UN diplomats who are here from Iran, as well as further applications in the future,” Zeldin added.

Khatibzadeh warned the US that “if it does not stop its illegal actions against Iranian diplomats in international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which are headquartered in the US, it will take that country to the International Court of Justice.”

“The US government has long caused constraints on Iranian diplomats and their families in international organizations in the US, in violation of the international law. Such measures have disrupted the work of Iranian diplomats and [those of] several other countries,” he added.

The spokesman further said that despite its obligations as host to several international organizations, the US "has never been a proper host," and has harassed the diplomats of the countries it has issues with, along with their families and children.

Outgoing US administration imposes fresh sanctions on Iran

The sanctions target companies in Iran, China and the United Arab Emirates.

Iran’s warning comes in the wake of the latest US sanctions against Iranian organizations and individuals as well as foreign companies and persons doing business with them.

Trump's outgoing administration on Friday imposed more sanctions on companies in Iran, China and the United Arab Emirates for doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and on three Iranian entities over conventional arms proliferation.

The new sanctions, which were imposed in the final days of Trump’s lame-duck presidency, came two days after the US blacklisted two Iranian foundations and their subsidies, claiming the institutions kept the ownership over large parts of the country’s economy.

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