United States Withdraws from 1955 Iranian-US Amity Treaty

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that the United States will withdraw from the 1955 US- Iranian Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights’. Following up on a complaint filed by Iran that the sanctions were in violation of the Amity Treaty, the UN’s International Court of Justice ruled that the US must lift several sanctions on Iran in areas such as medicine, medical devices, food and agricultural commodities and civil aviation equipment. In response, the US withdrew from the treaty, disputing the court’s ruling based on the poor state of relations between Washington and Tehran. Citing Iran’s past behavior, the US stood on the position that giving any aid to a regime advancing an illegal nuclear weapons program, that also has an abysmal track record of human rights, undermines US international credibility. Secretary Pompeo reiterated this notion by stating that, “Today marked a useful point with the decision that was made this morning from the ICJ. This marked a useful point for us to demonstrate the absolute absurdity of the Treaty of Amity between the United States and the Islamic Republic.”

Signed with Iran pre-revolution under the rule of the close US ally Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the 1955 treaty was part of a larger US effort to gather allies against the Soviet Union in the early days of the Cold War. The treaty affirmed a bond of friendship between the two nations, granted legal protection to diplomats, and greatly expanded trade by granting massive concessions to foreign businesses. However, the 1979 revolution ushered in the Islamist theocratic rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and, angered by the close US relationship to the Shah, US-Iranian relations regressed significantly. Tensions peaked after the takeover of the US embassy and Khomeini’s subsequent refusal to release seized American hostages seized for 444 days. Tensions have continued to remain high since Khomeini’s death in 1989. In the contemporary day, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, it’s belligerence in both rhetoric and action towards Israel, and it’s material and financial support for terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, all inform the US to view Iran as a destabilizing influence in the Middle East.

Further motivating factors for US actions could be the recent attacks on US consular facilities in Iraq. Rocket attacks near the US consulate in Basra in southern Iraq, and a mortar attack near the US embassy in Baghdad have forced the evacuation of diplomats and consular officials. Secretary Pompeo announced the US had verifiable intelligence that the attacks were perpetrated by Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups, specifically the Islamic Revolutionary Quds Force led by Qassem Suleimani: “Our intelligence in this regard is solid. We can see the hand of the ayatollah and his henchmen supporting these attacks on the United States”.

Any relief or negotiation of economic sanctions must be predicated by significant Iranian political reforms. Iran’s ongoing behavior is a threat not just to the United States, but to the Middle East as a whole. If any progress is to be made regarding the lifting sanctions and bringing Iran into the international economic community, Iran must first demonstrate its willingness to contribute to regional stability in the Middle East.