Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal

The Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, established on January 19, 1981 and located in the Hague, was created in an effort to resolve the crisis between the

Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America arising from the detention of 52 United States nationals at the United States

Embassy in Tehran which commenced in November 1979, and the subsequent

freeze of Iranian assets by the United States of America.

The Tribunal has jurisdiction to decide claims of United States

nationals against Iran and of Iranian nationals against the United

States which arise out of:

• debts, contracts, expropriations or other

  measures affecting property rights;

• certain "official claims" between

  the two Governments relating to the purchase and sale of goods and

  services;

• disputes between the two Governments concerning the

  interpretation or performance of the Algiers Declarations; and,

• certain

  claims between United States and Iranian banking institutions.

The Official website of the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal is in both English and Persian.  It contains background information, governing documents, and a searchable database of tribunal decisions, awards, and other documents.  You must register for the database; it is free and login information will be emailed to you within a week or so.

Yale Law Library also has the complete collection of decisions and awards in the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal Reports - KZ238.I7 I73 on L1.  We also have monographs on L1 analyzing the tribunal and the decisions of the tribunal.  See, for example: 

• The Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal at 25: the cases everyone needs to know for investor-state & international arbitration - KZ238.I7 D72 2007
• The Iran-United States Claims Tribunal and the process of international claims resolution: a study by the Panel on State Responsibility of the American Society of International Law - KZ 238.I7 I733 2000
• UNCITRAL arbitration rules as interpreted and applied: selected

  problems in light of the practice of the Iran-United States Claims

  Tribunal - KZ238.I7 P45 1994