On 19 January 1981, the Government of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria issued the General Declaration and the Claims Settlement Declaration, on the basis of formal adherences received from Iran and the United States. This is not a classic bilateral treaty with a DONE clause: Algeria, asked to mediate the crisis arising from the detention of 52 United States nationals in Iran, declares interdependent commitments within the four points of the Iranian Islamic Consultative Assembly resolution of 2 November 1980. Wikipedia places the talks at Villa Montfeld, the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Algiers; the U.S. chief negotiator was Warren Christopher; the Algerian mediator was Foreign Minister Mohammed Benyahia. The Iran–United States Claims Tribunal publishes the texts as constitutive documents.

General Principle A: the United States will restore, so far as possible, Iran’s financial position to that which existed prior to 14 November 1979 and will ensure the mobility and free transfer of Iranian assets within its jurisdiction. General Principle B: both parties aim to terminate litigation between each government and the nationals of the other through binding arbitration; the United States agrees to terminate U.S. court proceedings, nullify attachments and judgments obtained therein, prohibit further litigation on those claims, and bring about their termination through arbitration.

Point I: the United States pledges not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran’s internal affairs. Points II and III: a mutually agreeable central bank, under instructions of Algeria and the Algerian Central Bank, holds the escrow; transfer to Iran follows Algerian certification that the 52 nationals have safely departed. Until that certification, either party may terminate its commitments on seventy-two hours’ notice. Iranian gold and assets at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, deposits at overseas and domestic offices of U.S. banks, and other financial assets enter the same mechanism; they are not inventoried here as an account list.

An interest-bearing security account, fed by half of the receipts provided for, is to reach one billion dollars, then a minimum balance of 500 million, solely to secure and pay awards against Iran. Upon Algerian certification, the United States revokes trade sanctions directed against Iran since 4 November 1979 and withdraws claims pending before the International Court of Justice related to the embassy seizure, without describing those events here as a handbook. Point IV: a freeze on property of the former Shah and close relatives sued in U.S. litigation brought by Iran; U.S. courts are to be informed that sovereign immunity and the act of state doctrine should not bar those claims.

The Claims Settlement Declaration establishes the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal: nine members (or a larger multiple of three), one third appointed by each government, the remaining third chosen by those members, with the President from that third; seat at The Hague; UNCITRAL arbitration rules unless modified. Jurisdiction: claims of nationals, counterclaims arising from the same relationship, official claims from contracts for goods and services, and interpretation of the General Declaration. Decisions and awards are final and binding. The agreement enters into force when Algeria has received from both Iran and the United States a notification of adherence.

The Undertakings tie the safe departure of the 52 nationals to the Algerian Central Bank’s notice that the escrow deposit has been received. The Escrow Agreement among the United States, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Bank Markazi and the Banque Centrale d’Algérie bears the date 20 January — a distinct instrument, the following day. The hostages left Iran after the Algerian certification.

Villa Montfeld, Algiers, the United States ambassador’s residence, where Wikipedia places the negotiations. Wikimedia Commons, free licence.

For context: Algiers Accords (1981). The text: Declaration of the Government of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria (General Declaration).