Luxembourg Court Judge Rejects Iran's Request to Dismiss Compensation Claims

A judge at a Luxembourg court rejected Iran's request to dismiss the compensation claims from the families of American victims of the September 11 attacks against Iran's $1.6 billion assets that are blocked in the country. On Wednesday, the judge stated that the court must first address the fundamental issues of the case. According to Reuters, this Iranian asset, which was held by a Luxembourg currency transfer company named 'Clearstream,' was blocked due to international sanctions against Iran's nuclear activities and, theoretically, should have been returned to Iran upon the lifting of sanctions in January 2016. A group of families of the September 11 terrorist attack victims managed to convince the Luxembourg judge to block Iran's assets again as part of the compensation process, based on a ruling by an American judge who accepted that the Iranian government facilitated the travel of Al-Qaeda operatives, thus participating in the attacks. In recent weeks, Iran has attempted to challenge this judicial ruling through legal actions in Luxembourg. Previously published reports indicated that Clearstream also opposes the issuance and blocking of Iran's assets. The Luxembourg judge stated that a detailed analysis of Clearstream's operations is necessary to decide whether to release or keep Iran's assets blocked, which is beyond his jurisdiction. Meanwhile, two legal proceedings are underway regarding whether American court rulings are enforceable in Luxembourg, and it is unclear when their outcomes will be determined. The head of Iran's Central Bank and the Minister of Economy accused the previous government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of failing to act within six months to transfer the $1.6 billion from Iran's assets in Luxembourg. Officials from Hassan Rouhani's government had previously accused Ahmadinejad's administration of negligence in retrieving Iran's assets following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to seize $2 billion of Iran's assets in the U.S. to compensate families of victims of terrorist attacks 'linked' to the Islamic Republic.