Iran is not a party to the Hague Rules nor its subsequent amendments, as Iran has not to date ratified these international conventions. However, on 24 January 1965, Iran adopted the bulk of the 1924 version of the Hague Rules into the country’s national legislation. The Rules were incorporated as part of the Iranian Maritime Code of 1965. This Code, which contains a total of 115 Articles, is still in force. The Hague Rules appear in Art. 52 et seq. A comparison of the provisions of the Iranian Code on the one side and the Hague Rules on the other shows no differences whatsoever between the two texts. It is accordingly clear that the Iranian legislator has introduced no substantive innovation or modification in the various Articles of the Hague Rules which now form part of the Code.

Iranian law and jurisdiction takes the Hague Rules into account as part of the country’s municipal legislation. Hence, notwithstanding the fact that Iran is not a party to the relevant international convention of 1924, the same provisions apply to any contract, charterparty, or bill of lading subject to Iranian law, as if Iran were a party to the 1924 Convention. In point of fact, it is the normal practice of the various Iranian shipping and tanker companies to incorporate the Hague Rules. This is the invariable practice of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) which is one of the largest merchant fleets in the Middle East region. The IRISL is a member of a Bermuda-based P. & I. club managed from London. That club, in line with all other major P. & I. clubs, requires all its membership to engage in the business of carriage of goods on terms of the Hague Rules or the Hague-Visby Rules, or equally wide exemption of the carrier from liability. It is not surprising, therefore, that Condition 2 of the standard bill of lading currently used by the IRISL, making special reference to the Hague Rules, states: