Iran asked the United Nations on Thursday to intervene with the US government over a Supreme Court ruling that allows nearly $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets to be paid to victims of ‘terrorist attacks’

Iran asked the United Nations on Thursday to intervene with the US government over a Supreme Court ruling that allows nearly $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets to be paid to victims of ‘terrorist attacks’, including the 1983 bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut.

In a letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday, Iran's Foreign Minister Javid Zarif argues that the US court decision will have "catastrophic implications" and "will cause systematic erosion" of the principal of state immunity.

"I wish to call on Your Excellency to lend your good offices in order to induce the U.S. Government to adhere to its international obligations, put an end to the violation of the fundamental principle of state immunity," the letter reads in part.

Zarif said Tehran reserves the right to take countermeasures in response to the decision made by the US Supreme Court.

On April 20, the court ruled that the money had to be turned over to the American families of the victims of a 1983 bombing in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and other attacks blamed on Iran. The Islamic Republic has denied any role in the attacks.

The money confiscated through the verdict belongs to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI). The assets have been blocked under US sanctions.

 “The Islamic Republic of Iran holds the United States government responsible for this outrageous robbery, disguised under a court order, and is determined to take every lawful measure to restore the stolen property and the interest accrued to it from the date it was blocked by the United States,” wrote the top Iranian diplomat.

“The entire court proceedings, which led to the recent ruling, has been fake and phony and a travesty of justice in every sense of law, jurisdiction, merit, fact, and process. This clearly constitutes an international wrongful act and entails international responsibility for the government of the United States, for which it will be held accountable,” he asserted.