Trump Administration Fires Back Over Cases Brought To International Court Of Justice

President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from an amendment to the Vienna Convention governing dispute resolution in order to prevent the Palestinians from suing Washington at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. “[The decision] is in connection with a case brought from the so-called State of Palestine naming the United States as a defendant, challenging the move of our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” American National Security Adviser John Bolton explained, adding that the U.S. administration will review all pacts that could expose it to ICJ rulings. Last month, the Palestinian Authority filed a case with the United Nations’ highest court demanding that Washington reverse its decision to relocate its mission to Jerusalem, which Israel considers its undivided capital even though the Palestinians claim the eastern part of the holy city as their own. The move followed the U.S.’ termination of the 1955 Treaty of Amity forged with then-ally Iran, after the ICJ cited the accord in its ruling against certain aspects of Washington’s sanctions regime in a case brought by Tehran. In their decision, judges ordered the U.S. to lift recently re-imposed financial penalties on the Islamic Republic related to humanitarian goods and civil aviation. In response, a top American official described as “absurd” Iran’s claims under the treaty, which formed the basis of economic and consular relations between the two nations prior to the severing of bi-lateral ties in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.