Divestment of Iran's Immunity in the U.S. Courts

State immunity is a principle in customary international law which bars domesticcourts from hearing civil claims against sovereign states with some exceptions suchas jure gestionis acts, waiver, etc. While the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act(1996) generally prevents foreign states from being the subject of lawsuits indomestic courts, the amendments of U.S. Congress to the Act of 1976 exempted thosecountries having unfriendly relations with the U.S.: from this protection have costedIran.Judgments entered under this so-called “terrorism exception” against the Islamic Republic of Iran have been totally more than 12 billion dollars so far, with a number of suits still pending. This article studies various U.S. regulations in this regard and also its inconsistency with the rules of international law and at the same time suggests some probable defences in the U.S. courts which may be applicable in other international courts and Tribunals.