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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Wednesday withdrew two international agreements after Iran and the Palestinians complained to the International Court of Justice about US policy, the latest withdrawal. of Washington multilateral agreements.
The US National Security Advisor, John Bolton, answers a question from a reporter about how he refers to Palestine at a press conference in the White House's briefing room at Washington, United States, October 3, 2018. REUTERS / Leah Millis
US National Security Adviser John Bolton has called the UN Supreme Court "politicized and ineffective," announcing that the United States would consider all international agreements that could expose it to binding decisions. the courtyard.
Earlier Wednesday, the ICJ had given a victory to Tehran, ordering the United States to ensure that the sanctions against Iran, which must be tightened next month, do not undermine aid. humanitarian or security of civil aviation.
Tehran had argued that US sanctions imposed since May by the Trump government violated the terms of the 1955 Friendship Treaty. Washington reacted by withdrawing from the treaty, a little-known agreement that had been signed long before the 1979 Islamic revolution. in Iran, making both countries a sworn enemy.
The ICJ, based in The Hague, The Netherlands, is the United Nations body for the settlement of disputes between nations.
US allies are increasingly concerned about the Trump government's commitment to multilateralism.
In nearly two years after his election, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a six – power nuclear deal with Iran, pulled out of a global deal on the climate, left the UN cultural agency and threatened the military allies of NATO that the US would "follow its own path" if members did not spend more on defense .
Bolton, citing what he called "Iran's abuse of the ICJ," said the United States would also withdraw from the "optional protocol" to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
"We will begin a review of all international agreements that could still expose the United States to an alleged jurisdictional dispute settlement in the International Court of Justice," Bolton said on Wednesday. "The United States will not stand idly by while unfounded political claims are brought against us."
The decision to withdraw from the optional protocol comes after a Palestinian complaint filed in September challenging Washington's decision to transfer its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The Vienna Convention is an international treaty establishing diplomatic relations between states. It is often cited as a means of conferring diplomatic immunity.
Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States should have withdrawn from the friendship treaty with Iran several decades ago. The ICJ had no jurisdiction over sanctions that it believed were essential to the interests of US security.
The United States has adopted an uncompromising policy against Tehran, withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions.
"Today 's decision taken by the ICJ this morning marks a useful point for us to demonstrate the utter absurdity of the treaty of friendship between the United States and the Islamic Republic of India. Iran, "said Pompeo. .
Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Javad Zarif, criticized the US withdrawal, saying on Twitter: "Poverty regime".
In 2005, the Bush administration challenged the ICJ ruling after it ruled that the execution of a Mexican national in Texas violated US obligations under international law.
Palestinians argued that the US government's embassy in Jerusalem violated an international treaty and needed to be moved.
"It really has less to do with Iran and the Palestinians than with the consistent US policy of rejecting the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, which we believe is politicized and ineffective," he said. said Bolton.
"I want to emphasize," he added, "the United States remains a party to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and we expect all other parties to respect the international obligations that are theirs. under the Convention. "
The United Nations General Assembly recognized Palestine in 2012 as a non-member observer state, although its statehood is recognized neither by Israel nor by the United States.
Report by Lesley Wroughton and Roberta Rampton in Washington and Stephanie van den Berg in The Hague Additional report by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London and Tim Ahmann; written by Yara Bayoumy; edited by Susan Thomas and Leslie Adler
