Zarif
Tells UN's Ban
of US Seizure
of $1.8B in
Iran Funds, UN
Bans
Press Coverage
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, April
28 -- Nine
days after
Iran's foreign
minister Javad
Zarif met with
America's John
Kerry but the
UN of Ban Ki-moon
banned Inner
City Press
from covering
it, Zarif has
written to Ban
about American
courts'
"ruling that
authorized the
confiscation
of nearly 1.8
billion US
Dollars of
assets
belonging to
the Central
Bank of Iran
to the benefit
of private
litigants."
Here is Zarif's
letter to Ban:
"In
the past few
years, the
United States
has
persistently
engaged in a
dangerous
practice of
defying
international
law and order
by allowing,
in fact
instigating,
private
litigants to
bring civil
action before
U.S domestic
courts against
sovereign
states,
including the
Islamic
Republic of
Iran. Trials
have been
organized in
absentia;
self-serving
judgments have
been obtained
in default;
and claims
have been laid
on the assets
of the Iranian
people.
Knowing
full well that
no
self-respecting
nation,
certainly not
Iran, would
ever subject
itself to the
jurisdiction
of another
state's
domestic
courts, they
have amassed
billions of
dollars in
unlawful and
factually
flawed default
judgements
against the
Islamic
Republic of
Iran and its
organs.
The
U.S Executive
branch
illegally
freezes
Iranian
national
assets; the
U.S
Legislative
branch
legislates to
pave the
ground for
their illicit
seizures; and
the U.S
Judicial
branch issues
rulings to
confiscate
Iranian assets
without any
base in law or
fact.
The veracity
and
credibility of
the US justice
system -- when
it comes to
its treatment
of Iran -- can
be measured by
the recent
ruling of a
New York
District Court
that ordered
Iran to pay
more than
$10.5 billion
in damages to
the families
of the victims
of the 9/11
terrorist
attacks,
claiming
against all
evidence and
common sense
that Iran
"provided
active support
to the
attackers."
Such absurd
allegation –
not by a
politician but
regrettably by
a so-called
court of
law—contradicts
even public
statements as
well as
findings –
open or sealed
-- of
investigations
by the US
Government and
US Congress.
Ironically the
same court
absolved the
real culprits
of any
responsibility
and ruled
against Iran,
which was the
victim of the
same terrorist
group and has
consistently
been in the
forefront of
international
efforts
against them
and their
Takfiri
extremist
siblings.
In
sum, in
blatant
contravention
of the most
fundamental
principles of
international
law – not to
mention facts,
the United
States has
devised a
pseudo-legal
scheme that
subjects
Iranian assets
held in US and
foreign banks,
and even
Iranian
cultural
property held
on loan by
American
museums, to
spurious
rulings and
unlawful
collection
proceedings.
Excellency,
The principle
of state
immunity is
one of the
cornerstones
of the
international
legal order
and a rule of
customary
international
law, most
recently
codified in
the United
Nations
Convention on
Jurisdictional
Immunities of
States and
Their
Property. Its
primacy has
also been
recognized by
the community
of nations,
all legal
systems and
the
International
Court of
Justice. With
the sole
possible
permissible
exception of
"commercial
activity",
claims against
a sovereign
state must be
pursued either
in accordance
with
mechanisms
provided for
in bilateral
or
multilateral
agreements or
through
international
courts or
tribunals, as
appropriate.
It is
a matter of
grave concern
that the
United States
Congress,
along with
other branches
of the U.S
Government,
seem to
believe that
they can
easily defy
and breach the
fundamental
principle of
state
immunity, by
unilaterally
waiving the
immunity of
states and
even Central
Banks in total
contravention
of the
international
obligations of
the United
States and
under a
groundless
legal doctrine
that the
international
community does
not recognize.
In view of the
detrimental
effect of such
practices on
the integrity
of the
international
public order,
I wish to
alert you and
through you
the UN general
membership
about the
catastrophic
implications
of the US
blatant
disrespect for
state
immunity,
which will
cause
systematic
erosion of
this
fundamental
principle.
The
Islamic
Republic of
Iran rejects
the unlawful
decisions by
US courts in
this respect,
including the
ruling that
authorized the
confiscation
of nearly 1.8
billion US
Dollars of
assets
belonging to
the Central
Bank of Iran
to the benefit
of private
litigants. The
entire court
proceedings
which led to
the recent
ruling has
been fake and
phony and a
travesty of
justice in
every sense of
law,
jurisdiction,
merit, fact
and process.
This clearly
constitutes an
international
wrongful act
and entails
international
responsibility
for the
Government of
the United
States, for
which it will
be held
accountable.The
Islamic
Republic of
Iran holds the
United States
Government
responsible
for this
outrageous
robbery,
disguised
under a court
order, and is
determined to
take every
lawful measure
to restore the
stolen
property and
the interest
accrued to it
from the date
it was blocked
by the United
States.
It is
in fact the
United States
that must pay
long overdue
reparations to
the Iranian
people for its
persistent
hostile
policies. Such
wrongful US
policies and
actions
against
Iranian
people,
entailing
international
responsibility,
are
self-admitted
and based on
solid
historical
evidence and
not absurd
fabrications.
They include
overthrowing
the
democratically
elected
government of
Iran in 1953,
actively
supporting and
sponsoring the
ensuing brutal
dictatorship
and aiding and
abetting in
its crimes –
including
tortures by
US-created and
US-trained
SAVAK --
against the
Iranian people
from 1953 to
1979, actively
providing
intelligence,
support and
comfort to
Saddam Hussein
in his war of
aggression
against Iran
from 1980 to
1988,
including
provision of
AWACS
reconnaissance
to aid
Saddam’s use
of chemical
weapons
against
Iranian
soldiers and
civilians –
which amounts
to a war crime
, deliberate
shooting of an
Iranian civil
airliner in
1988, killing
all 290
passengers,
and the
plundering of
Iranian assets
held abroad.
The Islamic
Republic of
Iran reserves
the right to
take
appropriate
lawful action,
including
necessary and
proportionate
countermeasures,
to restore and
protect the
rights of the
Iranian people
against such
persistent
unlawful
conduct by the
United States.
Mr.
Secretary-General,
There has
seldom been so
much at stake
for the rule
of law, the
proper
functioning
and integrity
of the
international
legal and
financial
systems, and
the prevalence
of dialogue
and
accommodation
over coercion
and
confrontation.
In view of the
detrimental
effects of
continued
unlawful
conduct by the
United States,
I wish to call
on Your
Excellency to
lend your good
offices in
order to
induce the US
Government to
adhere to its
international
obligations,
put an end to
the violation
of the
fundamental
principle of
state
immunity,
release all
frozen Iranian
assets in US
banks and
cease and
desist
forthwith from
any
interference
with Iranian
commercial and
financial
transactions
outside the
United States,
in compliance
with its
general
international
obligations
and its
obligations
under the
JCPOA.
I will
be grateful if
this letter
were
circulated as
a document of
the General
Assembly under
agenda item
entitled “Rule
of law at the
national and
international
levels” and of
the Security
Council."
Back
on April 19 when
US Secretary
of State John
Kerry and
Iran's Foreign
Minister Javad
Zarif met in
the UN on
April 19, they
each announced
they would
meet again on
April 22 about
the JCPOA.
While this
might seem
like
mechanical
news, the UN
and its
partners in
censorship saw
fit to make it
difficult or
impossible for
non-favored
journalists to
cover it.
Inner City
Press, which
until this
year being
ousted (on
February 19, audio
here) and
then evicted
(on April 16,
video
here and here), was always able to cover
events on the
UN's second
floor, now
can't.
A
request to
pass through
the turnstile
was denied,
and Media
Accreditation,
which oversaw
and filmed
Saturday's
eviction, was
no help. But
here, as fast
as Inner City
Press could
obtain them,
are the
quotes:
Kerry:
"We agreed to
– we’re both
working at
making sure
that the
JCPOA, the
Iran agreement
– nuclear
agreement – is
implemented in
exactly the
way that it
was meant to
be and that
all the
parties to
that agreement
get the
benefits that
they are
supposed to
get out of the
agreement.
So we worked
on a number of
key things
today,
achieved
progress on
it, and we
agreed to meet
on
Friday.
After the
signing of the
climate change
agreement, we
will meet
again to sort
of solidify
what we talked
about today."
Zarif
confirmed, “We
focused on how
we will
implement the
JCPOA. We meet
again on
Friday.”
But why would
the UN evict
and restrict
reporters, for
their
coverage? The
ouster and
eviction were
ordered by
Under
Secretary
General
Cristina
Gallach, with
a conflict of
interest as
she appears in
the UN's
Ng Lap Seng
case audit at
Paragraphs
37-40 and
20(b); Ban
Ki-moon told
Inner City
Press, "That
is not my
decision."
We'll have
more on this.
When
the US
dramatically
called for a
UN Security
Council
meeting about
Iran's
ballistic
missile
launch,
outside the
Council Iran
distributed a
written
statement,
while Israel's
Danny Danon
and then
Samantha Power
spoke.
Iran's
statement
said,
"Security
Council
resolution
2231 does not
prohibit
legitimate and
conventional
military
activities,
nor does
international
law disallow
them. Iran has
never sought
to acquire
nuclear weapon
and never will
in the future,
as it fully
honours its
commitment
under the NPT
and the JCPOA.
Consequently,
Iran's
missiles are
not and could
not be
designed for
delivery of
unconventional
weapons. We
reject
arbitrary
interpretation
of the
provisions of
Security
Council
resolution
2231 and its
annexes, and
call upon all
parties to act
in good-faith
and refrain
from
provocations."
Danny
Danon had a
exhibit, a
photo of
launching
missile. Inner
City Press
asked him if
he though Ban
Ki-moon is
"letting it
all hang out"
in his final
year
(including
though the ouster
of Inner City
Press, petition
here);
Danon said
they don't
always agree,
but they talk.
The UN
Secretariat's
bungling of
Yemen
mediation has
become ever
more clear,
according to
multiple
sources and
documents
exclusively
seen by Inner
City Press,
see below.
In
the UN
Security
Council on the
Yemen
sanctions
resolution
adopted on
February 24,
language was
added to try
to discourage
the Panel of
Experts from
looking into
the act of the
Saudi-led
Coalition.
Concessions
were made, of
a kind not
made for or
about other
countries
under
sanctions.
(Inner City
Press had to
follow the
process from
outside the
UN, literally,
the park on
43rd Street
across First
Avenue,
because only
days after
Inner City
Press asked
why the UN was
so quiet about
false
claims of
Iranian
military
equipment
in a UN WFP
aid ship,
Inner City
Press was
summarily
thrown out of
the UN, and
Banned,
without due
process. Petition
here.)
On
March 1, back
in on a
reduced access
pass, Inner
City Press
asked UN OCHA
official John
Ging about
taking "aid"
money from
Saudi Arabia
while it
blasts away at
Yemen. Video
here.
Ging
said these two
are "ring
fenced," and
that the UN
doesn't allow
Saudi Arabia
to put
conditions on
aid or where
it is
delivered.
Inner
City Press
asked, what
about the
Saudi threat
that aid
workers should
leave
Houthi-controlled
areas? Ging
said the UN
had pushed
back.
But
quietly, as
was the case
with the Saudi
diversion of
the WFP ship.
Does money
talk?
Apparently
yes.
The
Yemen
"government,"
which under UN
rules could
hold a press
conference for
all
journalists in
the UN Press
Briefing Room,
has instead
chosen to
invited only
members of the
Gulf and
Western media
dominated UN
Correspondents
Association to
a spin
session. We've
put the leaked
invitation
online here;
here's some of
the text:
Dear
Colleagues,
UNCA is
extending an
invitation
sent from the
Permanent
Mission of the
Republic of
Yemen, to a
light
breakfast
briefing with
a public
diplomacy
delegation on
their visit to
New York to
discuss the
current
political
situation in
Yemen, on
Tuesday, March
8th at 9:00am
at the mission
(413 East 51st
street).
Please see the
attached
invitation to
RSVP.
Giampaolo
Pioli, UNCA
President
The
focus of the
annexed
invitation is
on "IHL and
HRL violations
of the Houthi
- Saleh
rebels." This
is UNCA: this
is how the UN
works, or
doesn't.
On
March 3, Inner
City Press
asked UN
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq why
UN OCHA
official
Stephen
O'Brien said
he was
"pleased" when
Saudi Arabia,
which funds
O'Brien's
Yemen appeal,
continues to
hold the UN's
"humanitarian
IT equipment"
at least under
March 6, after
Yemen's
Ambassador -
sure to be
present at the
spoon-fed
breakfast for
UNCA - said
was Iranian
military
equipment.
UNCA played a
role in the
UN's ouster of
Inner City
Press, and is
now linked to
at least two anonymous
troll Twitter
accounts
trying to
defend the
ouster. This
too is how the
UN works: UN
Censorship
Alliance.
Here, already
public online,
are the
officials and
some of the
large and in
charge
At-Large UNCA
2016
(breakfast)
board members:
On
February 28,
Ban Ki-moon
but not his
invisible
envoy issued a
canned
statement
about the
previous day's
airstrike:
"The
Secretary-General...
calls for a
prompt and
impartial
investigation
of this
incident."
Ban's call for
an impartial
investigation
rings hollow,
when he has
allowed his
Under
Secretary
General for
Public
Information
Cristina
Gallach to
oust Inner
City Press,
which reports
on Yemen,
based on an
"investigation"
which never
even SPOKE to
Inner City
Press. This
incongruity,
and its
consequences,
has been
raised
directly to
Ban and his
most senior
advisers.
Impartial?
Previously:
Inner City
Press obtained
UN envoy
Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed's
documents for
the delayed
talks in
Switzerland,
and
exclusively put
them online
here.
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