It is well established that regulatory decisions of city councils could be reviewed and potentially voided in the Administrative Court of Justice (ACJ). However, according to the judicial precedent there was some ambiguity about the competent court to review the ad hoc decisions of city councils. A regulatory decision has a general and legislative nature, while an ad hoc decision deals with a specific situation and specific party/parties.
For instance, the city council may set some standards for granting a construction license. This is a regulatory decision. But a decision to grant or deny a license for construction of a specific shopping mall is an ad hoc decision. While most ad hoc decisions of these kind are taken by administrative agencies of municipalities, in some instances, city councils take the matters to their own hands and issue an ad hoc decision. The judicial precedent was quite chaotic regarding judicial review of such ad hoc decisions. While some believed such decisions should be reviewed by the Administrative Court of Justice, others believed general courts are competent. This recent decision by the General Board of the Supreme Court of Iran (decision No. 827) settles the issue, and henceforth, ad hoc decisions of city councils could be reviewed by ACJ. The catch is while regulatory decisions of city councils could be reviewed by the Plenary Board of ACJ, ad hoc decisions shall be reviewed by branches of ACJ.
Head of Iran Atomic Energy Organization (“AEOI”), Mohammad Eslami recently announced Iran’s intention to export technological products in the nuclear field. On the sidelines of the 29th Iranian Nuclear Conference at Shahid Beheshti University, Muhammad Eslami announced the scientific breakthroughs of local nuclear scientists during the current Iranian year. AEOI launched the second phase of manufacturing deuterium drugs in Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility in April 2021 and now is hoping for becoming a global hub for deuterium drugs. Refuting claims by United States and its allies that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, Iranian authorities state that Iran has not attempted to enrich uranium beyond the 60 percent threshold and its nuclear program is completely peaceful. On a separate note, Spokesmen of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi is going to visit Iran in the next couple of days.
Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, will visit Tehran to hold talks regarding the stalled nuclear negotiation between Iran and the West. Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian has announced the upcoming trip of the Sultan of Oman to Iran to discuss 2015 nuclear deal, known as JCPOA. Oman has often acted as a mediator to help facilitate back-door diplomacy between the USA and Iran. A member of the National Security Commission of Iranian Parliament added that the Central Bank of Qatar is also trying to play the role of a mediator in connection with monetary and banking issues among Iran and USA and a series of indirect negotiations are now taking place between the US Treasury and the Central Bank of Iran through the Central Bank of Qatar.
Amir Abdollahian also mentioned that during the visit of Iranian President to Beijing, the Chinese authorities expressed their readiness to play a role in establishing relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
DECISION NO. 827 OF THE GENERAL BOARD OF THE SUPREME COURT OF IRAN REGARDING JUDICIAL REVIEW OF CITY COUNCIL DECISIONS
