TEHRAN – On Monday, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran declared implementation of the legislation that would provide the Foreign Ministry for demanding compensation from the U.S. for inflicting “spiritual and material damage” on Iran in years before and after the 1979 Revolution.

The law comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in April that almost $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets must be turned over to American families of people killed in the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and other attacks allegedly blamed on Iran.
The money, which belongs to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), had been blocked under U.S. sanctions before the court ruling.
The bill had already been passed by the previous parliament with 174 votes in favor and seven against on May 17. Four MPs had abstained. The influential Guardian Council also approved the compensation bill on May 18.
According to the Iranian Constitution, ratifications first approved by the parliament and then the supervisory Guardian Council become binding on the government.
The law cited the ensuing as examples of the U.S.-involved spiritual and material damage to Iran:
*** The 28th Mordad coup in August 1953
***The aborted Nojeh coup in July 1980
*** The Iraqi attack on Iran in 1980, which lasted until 1988
***More than 223,000 martyrs and 600,000 war veterans
***More than 17,000 assassinations
***The destruction of oil platforms in the late 80s
***Espionage activities against Iran
***Freezing, confiscating, and or seizing Iran’s assets or Iranian institutions and governmental bodies
***The U.S.-backed activities of the Israel regime

Earlier in April, President Rouhani had commissioned special committee, headed by Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia, to look into the U.S. seizure.
The ruling has come in for strong flak from Iranian officials including Rouhani who threatened to take the United States to international arbitration over the case, vowing Iran will spare no efforts in upholding the people’s rights.
Denouncing the seizure of the frozen assets as “highway robbery,” Foreign Minister Zarif has vowed to retrieve the sum anyway.
This is the first serious confrontation between Tehran and Washington after the successful signing of the nuclear deal in July 2105, which resulted in the law being passed against Washington by Tehran.
AK/PA

SOURCE:   http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/403187/Rouhani-declares-compensation-law-fighting-back-U-S-2b-seizure