Iran in the United States

Execution of Judgments in § 1605A FSIA Cases

Blocked Iranian assets

According to research about Iran from the Federal Judicial Center:The current state of the law has continued to frustrate judgment creditors, especially those who have been the victims of Iraniansponsored terrorist acts. In 2009, Chief Judge Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia described their situation in some detail, noting that despite the various legislative amendments, “the vast majority of victims have not collected so much as a dime on their court judgments against Iran.”396 He noted cases such as Peterson v. Islamic Republic of Iran,397 in which Iran was determined to have furnished money, weapons, training, and guidance to Hezbollah in direct support of a terrorist plot that culminated in a large-scale suicide bombing attack on the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 23, 1983, killing more than 200 American servicemen and injuring many others.

The plaintiffs received one of the largest FSIA judgments (over $2.6 billion) but have been unable to recover, since most of Iran’s property or interests in property in the United States have been frozen or otherwise regulated, are otherwise unreachable under the FSIA, or are held by financial institutions that are themselves entitled to immunity as agencies or instrumentalities of other foreign nations. Chief Judge Lamberth called for meaningful legislative reform with respect to civil actions against Iran. A limited change was made in August 2012, addressed specifically to the situation in Peterson. Section 502 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012398 makes available for execution certain Iranian blocked financial assets held in the United States for a foreign securities intermediary doing business in the United States. These assets are deemed “equal in value to a financial asset of Iran . . . that such foreign securities intermediary or a related intermediary holds abroad.” Before assets can be turned over under this provision, a court is required to make a determination that Iran holds “equitable title to, or the beneficial interest in, the assets” and that “no other person possesses a constitutionally protected interest” in them.399 However, the effect of this provision is expressly limited to assets at issue in Peterson.

Moreover, the term “blocked asset” is defined in the statute to mean any asset seized or frozen by the United States under § 5(b) of TWEA or § 202 or § 203 of IEEPA and to exclude property (1) subject to a license specifically required by any other provision of law or (2) subject to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations or the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations or “that enjoys equivalent privileges and immunities under the laws of the United States, and is being used exclusively for diplomatic or consular purposes.”401 Even this expanded access to Iranian assets for the plaintiffs in Peterson is extremely limited, and it reflects the overall heavy burden that remains on judgment creditors under the FSIA to establish that specific property is subject to attachment or execution.

Presidential Memoranda

Presidential Memoranda regarding the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Iran (March 9, 2016)

“Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to Iran that was declared on March 15, 1995, is to continue in effect beyond March 15, 2016.

On July 14, 2015, the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the European Union, and Iran reached a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is and will remain exclusively peaceful. January 16, 2016, marked Implementation Day under the JCPOA, when the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report verifying that Iran had completed key nuclear-related steps as specified in the JCPOA, and the Secretary of State confirmed the report’s findings. As a result, the United States lifted nuclear-related sanctions on Iran consistent with its commitments under the JCPOA, including the termination of a number of Executive Orders that were issued pursuant to this national emergency. Though such lifting of nuclear-related sanctions constitutes a significant change in our sanctions posture, non-nuclear related sanctions remain in place.

Nevertheless, certain actions and policies of the Government of Iran are contrary to the interests of the United States in the region and continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. For these reasons, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared with respect to Iran and to maintain in force certain sanctions against Iran to respond to this threat.”

Finding the law: Iran in the U.S. Code

A collection of general and permanent laws relating to iran, passed by the United States Congress, are organized by subject matter arrangements in the United States Code (U.S.C.; this label examines iran topics), to make them easy to use (usually, organized by legal areas into Titles, Chapters and Sections). The platform provides introductory material to the U.S. Code, and cross references to case law. View the U.S. Code’s table of contents here.

Iran

Iran in the United States

Execution of Judgments in § 1605A FSIA Cases

Blocked Iranian assets

Presidential Memoranda

Finding the law: Iran in the U.S. Code

Resources

See Also

Popular Topics related with Iran