Attached Diplomatic Premises Released
At the request of the U.S. government, Iran's diplomatic properties in the United States were released from attachment by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Section 201 of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act precluded the attachments, the court determined in December 3, 2010 with a detailed opinion and concurring opinion.
The post-judgment attachment was intended to satisfy an award under terrorism legislation which removes some of the jurisdictional protections afforded by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. In Bennett v. Iran, docket no. 09-5147, the court noted:
The United States has held Iran's diplomatic and consular properties for the past thirty years pursuant to Article 45 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Apr. 18, 1961, 23 U.S.T. 3227, 500 U.N.T.S. 95, which requires signatory states to "respect and protect" the premises and property of a mission if diplomatic relations are severed or a mission is recalled, and the Foreign Missions Act, 22 U.S.C. § 4305(c)(1) (2006), which authorizes the Secretary of State to "protect and preserve" the property of a foreign mission that has ceased conducting diplomatic activities in the United States.The judgment creditor believed that the rental of the properties by their custodian, the United States, should remove them from the protection under the Vienna Convention. The court rejected that notion. -- Clemens Kochinke, partner, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, LLP, Washington, DC.
Mon, / Embassy Law Link