WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The recent US Supreme Court decision allowing victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorist attacks to collect $2 billion in damages from the Islamic Republic is illegal, the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement said in a letter of protest to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
"The Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement rejects the illegal practice of the United States in defying international law by allowing and facilitating private plaintiffs to bring civil action before US courts against sovereign states, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, leading to the awards of default judgements against them and their national institutions," the letter stated on Thursday.
The Non-Aligned Movement consists mainly of African and Asian nations that eschew alliances with big powers such as the United States and Russia.
"Legislation by US Congress to pave the way for illegally confiscating foreign assets in the United States and the actions by the US government… enables US courts to issue groundless rulings," the letter claimed.
On April 20, the US Supreme Court upheld a law passed by Congress in 2012 that allows victims to recover $2 billion from Iran Central Bank assets that have been frozen in the United States.
The Non-Aligned Movement traces its roots to a 1955 conference in Indonesia, in which 25 nations declared themselves neutral in the Cold War rivalry between the United States and the former Soviet Union. The former Yugoslavia, India and Egypt were at the forefront of creating the Non-Aligned Movement.
