Former Iranian President Ahmadinejad asks Obama to return $2B in frozen assets

TEHRAN, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, urging the American leader to unfreeze $2 billion of Tehran's assets.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-2 that victims of terrorist attacks backed by Iran can collect nearly $2 billion in Iranian funds frozen in a New York bank. The court said Congress did not exceed its authority when it passed a law aimed at securing restitution for victims from the frozen Iranian funds.

Ahmadinejad asked Obama to return the Iranian assets frozen by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"It is the clear expectation of the Iranian nation that the particular case of property seizure, which fully occurred during your term in office, and actually toward the end of the term, and which is counter to all international legal principles and rules, be quickly fixed by your excellency and that not only the Iranian nations right be restored, and the seized property released and returned, but also the damages caused be fully compensated for," Ahmadinejad wrote.

In June, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif criticized the United States over the seizure of the assets and Tehran later filed a lawsuit against the United States in the Hague International Court of Justice.

"I passionately advise you not to let the historical defamation and bitter incident be recorded under your name, within the framework of unilateral and unjustified relations of the two states, hence deepening the historical distrust," Ahmadinejad said, adding that his letter is "by no means of political nature."

Ahmadinejad served as president from 2005 until 2014.