Iran, US Settle $1.7 Billion Claim at The Hague

The United States and Iran on Sunday settled a longstanding claim at the Hague, releasing to Tehran $400 million in funds frozen since 1981 plus $1.3 billion in interest, the US State Department said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry says that Washington is slated to repay Iran a $400 million debt, along with an additional $1.3 billion in interest.

Kerry made the announcement on Sunday, adding that the payments date back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, according to the AFP. The news comes only a day after President Barack Obama signed an executive order, lifting US economic sanctions on Iran.

Dating to shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the funds were part of a trust fund once used by Iran to purchase military equipment from the United States but which was tied up for decades in litigation at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal. Iran said it was owed $400 million for military equipment the deposed government was buying. In the resolution, the U.S. paid the $400 million plus $1.3 billion in interest, which was much less than what the Iranians had sought, Obama said during his statement on Iran yesterday.

The repayment, arranged after an international legal tribunal, is separate from the tens of billions of dollars in frozen assets that Tehran can now access.

Claims in the Hague Tribunal had to be filed with the Tribunal by 19 January 1982, and their number is therefore finite, according to the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal webpage. “Approximately 1,000 claims were filed for amounts of $250,000 or more, and approximately 2,800 claims for amounts of less than $250,000. The time limit does not apply to disputes between the two Governments concerning interpretation of the Algiers Declarations,” the webpage says.

Iranian officials have not commented on the settlement yet.