Page 6 - IRANRptDec19

insurance, while recalling a telephone conversation he had with previous US president Barack Obama in 2015.
He said Obama’s phone call came as he and his team were about to end a visit to New York, and that he decided to answer the call upon the suggestion of all his advisers.
That 20-minute chat, which Rouhani described as a “highly powerful locomotive for propelling the train of negotiations”, made it possible for both countries and other nations to conclude the nuclear deal.
“The most important achievement of the interim agreement [before the full nuclear deal] was the other sides’ acceptance of Iran’s right to [uranium] enrichment,” Rouhani said. “No one could believe that we could obtain this concession from the six world powers, which was at the time against UN resolutions.”
His comments come ahead of a meeting of the remaining JCPOA signatories. A letter from Iran has reportedly been passed to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is expected to hand it to US President Donald Trump in the next few days. Trump has repeatedly suggested negotiations with the Iranians for a tougher nuclear deal—but without first dropping the sanctions aimed at crushing Iran’s economy to force Tehran to the table.
2.2​ ​Tehran court orders US to pay $130bn in damages to Iranians affected by “crimes” of American government
A court in Tehran has ordered the US government to pay Iranian plaintiffs a sum of $130bn in damages caused by “crimes committed by the Washington government”, Tasnim News Agency reported on December 3.
The ruling comes a week after a US court ruled in favour of former ​Washington Post​ Tehran correspondent Jason Rezaian and awarded $180mn in damages due to his arrest and maltreatment. ​Iran rejected the ruling​, saying Rezaian was treated with due care and attention during his stay at Tehran’s Evin prison.
Iranian judiciary spokesperson Gholam Hossein Esmaeili said Iranian citizens, not the government, have filed more than 360 complaints against the US government in recent years in Iran. He added that at least $130bn in damages has been awarded to the plaintiffs “affected by the US’ direct crimes against the Iranian nation”.
Esmaeili called on the Iranian Foreign Ministry to help enforce the paying out of the damages at the international level.
It is highly unlikely any of the Iranian plaintiffs will receive funds from the US, especially as Tehran and Washington have not had diplomatic relations since 1980.
In February, judges at the ​International Court of Justice (ICJ)​ ruled that the UN body has the jurisdiction to hear a claim by Iran to recover $1.75bn in assets frozen by Washington. But the ICJ has no way of making the US respect its judgements.
6​ IRAN Country Report​ December 2019 www.intellinews.com