ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit against several companies affiliated with Iraq's Ministry of Industry and Minerals, saving the Iraqi government from a $53 million payout, the Iraqi Justice Ministry said Tuesday.
The ministry posted on Facebook that its legal department had “announced a final and binding ruling by the US Supreme Court dismissing a lawsuit filed by a Jordanian company against several companies affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Minerals,” noting that the lawsuit involved “financial claims amounting to 53 million US dollars.”
The dispute originated in 1995 when the Iraqi government, then under strict international sanctions following the Gulf War, issued an export commitment letter to the Jordanian firm Mohammad Hilmi Nassif & Partners to settle an unpaid debt for delivered goods.
The Justice Ministry added that the ruling validates Iraq's legal position in the case, which has now been resolved in favor of the state. The definitive ruling spares the Iraqi government from the payout, adding that the decision follows state efforts to protect public funds.
Iraq agreed to provide $53 million worth of sulfur and urea at the Jordanian border but failed to fulfill the contract, prompting the company to eventually secure a judgment in a Jordanian court in 2015.
When attempts to collect the funds in Jordan stalled, the company filed a lawsuit in Washington in 2017.
