Journal of Legal Research

Journal of Legal Research

The Legal Regime Governing Foreign Investment in Iran-United States Relations and the Standards of Its Protection

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Fatemeh Niavarani 1
Fathollah Rahimi 2
Tavakkol Habibzadeh 3
1 PhD Student in International Law, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Law, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
3 Associate Professor, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Islamic Studies and Law, Imam Sadegh University, Tehran, Iran; Lecturer and Invited in Department of Law, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
10.48300/jlr.2024.423491.2485
Abstract
Investment relations between the two governments of Iran and the United States of America are limited due to political tensions and were largely concluded before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The 1955 Treaty of Amity, prior to the United States' withdrawal from it, and the Algiers Accords are among the most important agreements concluded between the two governments and play a decisive role in identifying the legal regime governing their mutual relations. Most of the disputes brought before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal (IUSCT, the Tribunal), pursuant to the Algiers Accords, by nationals of each of the two countries against the other state, has been the protection of foreign investment. This study seeks to examine the legal regime governing foreign investment in Iran-US relations and the standards for protecting foreign investment in light of the mutual agreements and the awards of the IUSCT. Hence, the first and second parts of the study address the law applicable to the Tribunal and the status of the Treaty of Amity in this regard, and the third part deals with the standards of protection for investment as set forth in the awards of the Tribunal. It is ultimately concluded that although no reference was made to some protective standards in the awards of the Tribunal, the development of foreign investment law could be observed in some of the awards. Nevertheless, the Tribunal should have addressed the standards for protecting foreign investment more extensively.
Keywords
Iran and the United States of America
Standards for Protecting Foreign Investment
Foreign Investment
Host State
Foreign Investor
 
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Journal of Legal Research
Volume 24, Issue 63
Autumn 2025
Pages 491-524