US has no other way than returning Iran’s assets

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who has been in New York since Monday to attend a UN debate on Sustainable Development Goals and the signing ceremony of the Paris climate change agreement as well as to meet foreign officials, reacted to a recent ruling by the US Supreme Court which authorizes the misappropriation of $2.65 billion of Iranian assets to the families of victims of the 1983 bombing in Beirut and a number of other bombings.

"The US government is well aware of the fact that Iran does not recognize the ruling and if they take any measures against the assets of the Islamic Republic, they will be complied to compensate for it and return Iran’s assets,” Zarif said on Thursday in New York According to (MNA).

In regard to a planned meeting between Zarif and US Secretary of States John Kerry on Friday and whether the matter of the US ruling will be raised during the meeting, the Iranian foreign minister said the meeting will only focus on Iran’s nuclear deal and its implementation. He added the outcome will be discussed in the next meeting.

In 2007, the US judicial system issued a ruling to let the purported plaintiffs of the cases of two bombings in Beirut and Saudi Arabia in 1983 and 1996, use Bank Markazi’s almost $2 billion held in Citibank accounts. The Supreme Court authorized the ruling on Wednesday. Following the announcement, US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said the government backs the compensation order.