Mar 28, 2019

Iran has welcomed a decision by a Luxembourg court rejecting a US court ruling in a case involving American plaintiffs' attempts to gain access to $1.6 billion in frozen Iranian assets stemming from the September 11 al-Qaeda attacks. The Foreign Ministry hailed the decision as a new era in which the United States cannot will its way in the world.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahman Ghassemi, speaking to reporters about the ruling that prevented the assets' seizure, said, “This success was the result of a complaint filed by the Central Bank of Iran and cooperation between the Central Bank, the Foreign Ministry and legal advisers of the president to realize the rights of the Iranian people.”

Ghassemi continued, “Undoubtedly, the era of American totalitarian and forceful behavior toward other countries for various reasons and with baseless accusations has come to an end, and this ruling at this time shows that in the international community, courts that have an independent approach still exist.” He added, “The United States has paid exorbitant costs to incite world public opinion against an independent country like Iran.”

Regarding the 2001 hijackings and attacks on New York and Washington by the Sunni extremists of al-Qaeda, Ghassemi said, “There is solid evidence and documents about the attacks and attackers.” He accused the United States of “exonerating” the original attackers and “deviating public opinion away from them” in order to confiscate Iran’s wealth. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. None of the attackers were citizens of Iran, which has an overwhelmingly Shiite population.

In a dig at American allies in the region who rely on the United States for their security, Ghassemi said, “Mr. Trump should learn that Iranians and their great and wise people are completely different from other countries … that rent [US] security and support.” Ghassemi said that with various Iranian organizations working together, the United States has faced “numerous failures” in its approach toward Iran and that it would continue to do so.