Validity of the Treaty of Amity between Iran and the United States: Some Considerations in Theory and Practice

The 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights was signed on August 15 in Tehran. It secured the most-favored-nation treatment in matters of the rights of American and Iranian citizens and companies and also of trade and consular relations. This treaty replaced the temporary trade agreement and the temporary agreement on personal status and family right (1928). It was concluded for ten years and is to be automatically renewed.After 1980 some sanctions on Iran, taking some reciprocal measures, and actual interruptions in consular and diplomatic relations by the parties of the said treaty, many focused on some doubts about the validity of this document in mutual relations of Iran and the U.S.In this essay we will take a look at some practical and theoretical debates concerning the validity of the said text in mutual relations.