Chas T. Main International, Inc., entered into contracts with several Iranian entities
to perform their professional services. Main was not paid and sued the entities for
payment for services rendered. The Iranians were ordered to pay Main. In order to
ensure payment of the judgment, Main was allowed to have a legal interest (called
an "attachment") in all Iranian assets (up to the amount owed) located in the United
States. The Iranians appealed this decision.
During the time this was going on, 52 Americans were being held as hostages by
Iran. President Carter worked to obtain their release and issued an Executive Order
as part of an agreement between the United States and Iran which led to their
release. As part of the agreement, the Executive Order required all claims between
American nationals and Iranian entities to be moved from state courts to an
international arbitration tribunal. This meant that all non-Iranian interests in Iranian
properties located in the U.S. were meaningless (nullified), including the money
Main was holding pending the Iranian's appeal. President Reagan adopted and
ratified this agreement by subsequent Executive Order after he entered office. In the
course of negotiating a hostage release agreement with a foreign government, may
the U.S. President require by Executive Order that certain causes of action pending
in U.S. courts at and prior to the date of the Executive Order be removed from those
courts and presented for adjudication before another court-here, an international
arbitration tribunal established by the negotiated agreement? [Chas T. Main
International, Inc. v. United States, 509 F. Supp. 1162 (D. Mass 1981)]