Public Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda attends a trial at the ICC (International Criminal Court) in The Hague, the Netherlands, July 8, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Eva Plevier / Pool / File.

i24 News – The US has revoked the sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) staff, US State Secretary Antony Blinken said in a statement on Friday.

US President Joe Biden revoked the appropriate executive order signed by his predecessor former President Donald Trump, while the State Department terminated a separate visa restrictions policy aimed at the ICC members, he clarified.

“These decisions reflect our assessment that the measures were inappropriate and ineffective,” he said.

The top US diplomat stressed, however, that Biden administration still disagreed with the court on its probes into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and Palestinian territories.

“We maintain our longstanding objection to the Court’s efforts to assert jurisdiction over personnel from non-States Parties such as the United States and Israel,” the statement asserted.

The best way forward, though, was through engaging with all “stakeholders in the ICC process,” Blinken said, adding that Washington welcomed the prospect of reforms within the ICC.

The Trump administration slapped sanctions on top ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and a senior aide over the court’s actions on alleged war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan.

The court’s decision to move ahead with the probe into alleged war crimes on Palestinian territories was another key point of contention between Trump’s Washington and the ICC.