A lawmaker has called on US plane manufacturer Boeing to resist demands for disclosure of the details of its contract with Iran as it may pave the way for illegal seizure of the country’s assets by Washington that would undermine the nuclear deal.
A US federal judge in a civil case focused on a 2003 terror attack allegedly backed by the Iranian government has ordered Boeing to turn over to victims details of a $16 billion contract with Iran Air, Iran’s flag carrier, to purchase 80 commercial planes. They are seeking to collect on a longstanding $67-million civil judgment against Iran, AP reported.
The ruling, posted in the court docket Tuesday, rejects Boeing’s contention that providing the contract details to the victims would not only undermine the mega-contract with Iran Air but could jeopardize the nuclear deal itself.
That deal lifted sanctions on Iran, and many hailed the Boeing contract in 2016 as an example of how the nuclear agreement benefited both countries.
Breach of Commitment
Echoing Boeing’s view, Lawmaker Hossein Naqavi Hosseini told ICANA in an interview published on Saturday that confiscation of Iranian assets through asking the planemaker to reveal the contract details is against the United States’ commitments under the nuclear accord.
“Once in a while, the United States unjustly steals Iranian assets by leveling false accusations against the Islamic Republic… which is in violation of international norms and the JCPOA,” he said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Tehran’s nuclear program.
“The mere disclosure of a contract and its details does not create any problems, but the Americans’ objective is to steal Iranian assets,” the spokesman for Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said, adding that Boeing must help protect Iran’s properties.
The relatives of 7-year-old Naom Leibovitch are suing. She was reportedly killed by members of a group—which the US State Department has claimed is an Iranian-funded terrorist organization—when they fired on the Leibovitches as they traveled on a highway in Jerusalem (Beit-ul-Moqaddas). Her sister, Shira Leibovitch, and other members of the family were injured.
The plaintiffs want to go through the contract to help determine what Iranian assets they might be able to access and seize to fulfill the $67 million judgment.
A notice by the administration of US President Donald Trump, dated Feb. 2, declined to take a position on whether or not the judge should force Boeing to disclose the details of the contract.
Common Practice
US courts have so far given several rulings requiring Iranian frozen funds to satisfy verdicts in cases brought against Iran’s government on alleged terrorism-related charges.
The US Supreme Court ruled in April 2016 that $2 billion in Central Bank of Iran’s assets be handed over to American families of those killed in the 1983 bombing of US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and other attacks blamed on Iran.
Alongside the then-US president Barack Obama’s executive order issued in 2012 to block all of CBI’s assets held in the US, congress passed the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012, which included a provision that made it easier for the victims to be paid out of the blocked assets.
Another US court verdict in late June 2017 allowed the US government to seize an office tower in New York City owned largely by an Iranian charity organization, the Alavi Foundation. Iran has denied the charges.
