For the past 40 years, it's been a rarity to see the United States and Iran come together over an issue without a confrontation. But the two sides finally forged an agreement in July 2015 and — along with four other world powers —  signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Washington, however, abandoned the accord four months ago, leaving the weary relations between the two nations in tatters.

The US reversal on the nuclear deal and its reimposition of sanctions has prompted Iran to search for any possible tools and means to minimize the impact of the apparent "maximum pressure" campaign to bring Tehran to its knees.

The heightened animosity has led to the resurrection of the 63-year-old Treaty of Amity between the two foes, with Iran turning to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest court, to argue for freezing the US sanctions on the basis that they violate that treaty. 

The Iranian government, according to the ICJ, filed a case July 17 claiming that the United States has breached its obligations to Iran under numerous articles of the treaty, and therefore should “terminate the nuclear-related sanctions without delay” and “immediately terminate its threats with respect to the announced further sanctions.” The Iranian side is also calling on the United States to guarantee it will not circumvent the court's decision or repeat "its violations of the [1955 treaty]" and "fully compensate Iran for the violation of its international legal obligations" with an amount to be determined by the court later.