US accuses Tehran of world law violation

The United States accused Iran in the World Court Tuesday of striking "at the jugular" of international diplomacy by holding hostages in the American Embassy in Teheran for more than four months. US government lawyers told the International Court of Justice here that the Iranian authorities' backing of the occupation was a flagrant violation of recognized norms of international law.

The court received a telex message from Iranian Foreign Minister Sadeq Gotbzadeh reaffirming the Iranian position that the court, the United Nations' principal legal chamber, could not deal with the problem since it lay completely within Iran's sovereignty.