## Facts

- Iran and the United States created the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal by the 1981 Algiers Declarations to resolve specified disputes, including claims of nationals of each state against the other.
- The Claims Settlement Declaration defines a “national” as a natural person who is a citizen of Iran or of the United States, respectively.
- Many potential claimants held dual Iranian and U.S. citizenship under the municipal laws of both states.
- In an inter-state interpretive proceeding (an “A” case), Iran sought a Full Tribunal ruling that the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction over claims against Iran brought by dual Iran–U.S. nationals.
- The United States argued that dual nationals were not categorically excluded and could qualify as U.S. nationals for Tribunal purposes when their U.S. nationality was dominant and effective under international law.

## Issues

1. Whether the Tribunal has jurisdiction under the Claims Settlement Declaration over claims against Iran brought by individuals who possess both Iranian and U.S. nationality.
2. If dual nationals are not excluded, what standard governs whether a dual Iran–U.S. national may be treated as a U.S. national for purposes of bringing a claim against Iran.

## Decision

- The Full Tribunal held it has jurisdiction over claims against Iran brought by dual Iran–U.S. nationals if the claimant’s dominant and effective nationality is that of the United States.
- The Tribunal rejected Iran’s position that dual nationality, by itself, bars jurisdiction.
- The Tribunal adopted the dominant-and-effective-nationality test from general international law and left its application to the facts of individual cases to subsequent proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- Treaty terms are interpreted by their ordinary meaning in context and in light of the treaty’s object and purpose; where the text does not resolve an issue, applicable rules and principles of international law may supply standards.
- Absent an express exclusion, a jurisdictional grant covering “nationals” may include dual nationals, subject to an international-law test for determining which nationality controls as against the respondent state.
- For dual nationals, the controlling nationality for international-claim purposes is the “dominant and effective” nationality, assessed through indicia such as habitual residence, center of interests, family ties, participation in public life, and other evidence of attachment.
- Municipal citizenship status is a starting point, but the international legal effect of dual nationality for claim jurisdiction is determined by international law, including the dominant-and-effective-nationality doctrine.
- The Tribunal’s treaty-based system of direct access for individuals permits reliance on international-law nationality concepts without requiring an automatic bar whenever the claimant also holds the respondent state’s nationality.

## Conclusion

The Tribunal construed the Claims Settlement Declaration to allow claims by dual Iran–U.S. nationals against Iran when the claimant’s dominant and effective nationality is U.S., establishing a fact-specific jurisdictional standard to be applied in later individual cases.


Iran v. U.S., Iran-U.S. Cl. Trib., Case No. A/18, Dec. No. 32-A/18/FT, 5 Iran-U.S. Cl. Trib. Rep. 251 (1984)