TEHRAN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against U.S. "illegal" freezing of Iranian assets is another proof of the "legitimacy" of Tehran's positions and Washington's "wrongful behaviors."

The ministry made the remarks in a statement published on its website, reacting to the ruling issued earlier in the day by the ICJ that Washington had "illegally allowed its courts to freeze Iranian companies' assets" and its order that the United States must pay compensation to Iran, the amount of which will be determined later.

The ministry added that the court obligating the U.S. to pay compensation to Iran is yet another indication of the "legitimacy" of Tehran's demand.

In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Iranian assets close to 2 billion U.S. dollars frozen in the U.S. must be paid to American families of the victims of the bombing of a U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983 as well as other attacks blamed on Iran. Tehran has repeatedly and vigorously rejected all claims about its involvement in the 1983 Beirut bombing and other similar allegations.

The case before the ICJ was initially brought by Tehran in 2016 against the U.S. breach of a 1955 friendship treaty by allowing its courts to freeze Iranian companies' assets.

Washington pulled out of the treaty in 2018. However, the ICJ ruled that the accord was in place at the time of the Iranian assets' freezing.