Enforcement of Foreign Judgments: Iran
Dear user,
I am Khalil Asayesh (Iranian lawyer from the Tehran Bar Association with license number 21129). Thank you for choosing my site to use legal services. This site has been set up to improve legal information, advice, and solutions for domestic and international law issues.
My specialty is in international companies and contracts, with experience in advocacy in international arbitration and enforcing foreign judgments in Iranian courts and courts outside Iran (Germany, France, Turkey, UAE, and Oman).
Contact Information
Telephone and WhatsApp numbers:
- Iran: 09124439719
- UAE (WhatsApp): 00971521583759
We are not responsible for holidays and non-working hours.
Description
The enforceability of judgments outside the jurisdictions in which they are granted concerns lawyers whose clients or adversaries are from countries outside the United States. Money judgments must be enforceable against assets. A defendant’s assets may not be located in the jurisdiction where the plaintiff originally brought suit.
The effectiveness of plaintiffs’ counsel in obtaining transnational satisfaction depends largely on understanding procedural rules of the jurisdictions where enforcement will be attempted. Defendants’ counsel similarly need this understanding to advise clients whether to defend in the original forum or accept a default judgment and defend elsewhere against enforcement.
Factors Affecting Enforcement Advice
Considerations for advising a client involved as a defendant in a foreign action include the merits of the case, solvency of the defendant, countries involved, and the location of the defendant’s assets. The applicable law in both adjudicating and enforcing forums is also paramount. Sometimes, the foreign country has a legal system very different from that of the United States or other nations. Iran is a case in point.
Iranian Litigation
The Iranian government has reportedly commenced lawsuits in Iran against 60-70 United States individuals and corporations. Many of these defendants had already brought claims against Iran in the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal at The Hague. Some have contracts with Iranian entities specifying that disputes fall under the jurisdiction of Iranian courts.
The Hague Tribunal, according to the international agreements establishing it, generally does not have jurisdiction over claims arising under contracts with valid forum selection clauses designating Iranian courts as the exclusive forum.
Recent Test Cases
Several recent test cases may bar certain claimants from access to the Tribunal. Some claimants sued in Iran may also be barred from the Tribunal. Others may be litigating different claims—or even the same claims as Iran’s counterclaims—before the Tribunal. The significance of these suits depends largely on how and where resulting judgments might be enforced.
