Iran Files $5 Billion Lawsuit Against German Stock Exchange for Asset Freezing

"The German Stock Exchange" states that Iran has filed a lawsuit against this financial institution amounting to $4.9 billion in the Luxembourg court. This lawsuit is related to the freezing of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic's assets at the German Stock Exchange due to suspicions of financing terrorism and compensating the victims of certain terrorist acts attributed to Iran. This amount, in addition to the principal amount of the frozen funds, includes interest as well. According to reports from German and Reuters news agencies, $1.9 billion of the Central Bank of Iran's assets at the German Stock Exchange were handed over to the plaintiffs of terrorism victims following a ruling by an American court in 2013, and another $2 billion has been frozen for other legal claims related to compensation requests. Previously, The New York Times reported last year that Iranian assets were frozen by a judge's order in Luxembourg, stating that victims of terrorism attributed to Iran have submitted $50 billion in compensation claims against Iran in courts worldwide. The New York Times added that Iran, which has not even "bothered to provide evidence to refute these claims in court," has been condemned to pay compensation in many cases. This report reminded that although American courts do not handle lawsuits against governments, in cases specifically related to terrorism, plaintiffs can sue governments. Iran completely denies these allegations and has been condemned in absentia in all cases, particularly those pending in the U.S. Reuters reported that the German Stock Exchange believes that the Central Bank's lawsuit against it is "unfounded" and that it will take all necessary measures to reject Iran's compensation claim. In this context, the German news agency reported that $1.9 billion of Iran's assets were paid to victims of the 1983 attacks on U.S. Marines in Lebanon. The U.S. Supreme Court also ruled last spring that about $2 billion of Iran's frozen assets should be paid to the families of American victims who were killed in the 1983 bombing at the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and other attacks attributed to Iran. In this regard, the Central Bank of Iran stated that it will appeal the Luxembourg court's ruling, which rejected Iran's request to annul the compensation claim. Officials from Rouhani's government accused Ahmadinejad of negligence in the Luxembourg case. Takht Ravanchi stated that efforts to seize Iran's money in Luxembourg are unfair. The New York Times reported on the Luxembourg court's ruling to seize $1.6 billion of Iran's assets.