<span style="color: #222222;">The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that it has the jurisdiction to hear part of a case brought by Iran against the US, to unfreeze Iranian assets of nearly 2 billion dollars held in the US. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The ruling opens the way for the court to hear Iran's case on its merits. Iran filed the case in 2016, based on the 1955 Treaty of Amity between the two nations, from which the US unilaterally withdrew last year.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The case revolves around assets seized from the Iranian national bank, Bank Markazi, which were taken by the US to compensate victims of a 1983 suicide bombing of a Marine Corps base in Beirut, Lebanon.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Iran denies involvement in the attack which killed more than 300 and injured many more, most of whom being US military personnel. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The US has argued that Iran's claims to retrieving its assets based on the Treaty of Amity, were now void, following the US's withdrawal.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The judges unanimously rejected the US claim that the case was an abuse of process, and that it should be thrown out due to Tehran's unclean hands.</span><br />''