Iran to file lawsuit against US over sanctions

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani yesterday said that his government would file a legal case against the United States (US) over the imposition of economic sanctions on the Islamic republic, local semi-official Fars News Agency has reported.

“The presidency’s legal department together with the justice and foreign affairs ministers will prepare a lawsuit against those in America were involved in designing and imposing sanctions on Iran,” Rouhani explained.

The Iranian leader described the US sanctions as a “crime against humanity,” noting that they were aimed at “overthrowing the republic’s government and ushering in one more aligned with US policies.”

READ: Iran’s oil minister blames US for market tensions

“The Americans have only one goal: they want to come back to Iran and rule the nation again,” Rouhani said.

In August, the US administration imposed economic sanctions on Iran, predominantly targeting the country’s banking, energy, and shipping sectors. In October, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered the US “to lift sanctions affecting imports of humanitarian goods to Iran.”

But on 5 November, the American president Donald Trump reimposed the sanctions on Tehran, few months after he announced his government’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated with five other world powers. The sanctions were reported at the time to have weakened Iran’s local currency and have also fed into higher inflation.

Despite the sanctions’ negative impact on Iran’s oil exports, the US had unexpectedly granted eight countries exemptions, allowing them to continue to purchase oil from the Islamic republic for six months. Tehran’s oil exports represent more than half of its foreign revenues.