US-IRAN TRIBUNAL
| The Iran -United States Claims Tribunal has been established in the Hague since 1981 to deal with settlement of thousands of legal and financial claims submitted by Iran, the United States and nationals of the two countries. The tribunal also has to rule on disputes between the two countries concerning the interpretation of the terms of the Algiers Declarations. The numerous financial and legal claims handled by the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in recent years are the direct result of the crisis that arose between Iran and the United States in 1979 following the detention of 52 American nationals in the U.S. embassy in Teheran and the subsequent freezing of Iranian assets by the United States. At the time , the government of Algeiria successfully acted as intermediary between Iran and the United States and brokered the establishment of the Tribunal. In January in 1981 the agreements between the two countries were set out in two seperate declarations , the General Declaration and the Claims Settlement Declaration.In these Declarations it was agreed that Iran would release the hostages, while the United States promised to restore the financial position of Iran, as far as possible, as it was prior to the date on which the assets were frozen. The Tribunal rules on two types of claims: claims submitted by nationals of one state against the other state ( or a state owned company), and claims between two states.The claims of nationals relate to debts, contractual obligations , expropriations and other measures affecting property rights. These claims could have been submitted to the tribunal up to January 19th 1982. The claims between the two states relate to contractual agreements for the purchase and the sale of goods and services. The tribunal also has to rule on disputes relating to the interpretation and performance of the Algiers Declaration. There is no deadline for filing of claims or disputes between the two countries. |
