New York Times: Luxembourg Court Rules to Seize $1.6 Billion of Iran's Assets

Informed sources told the New York Times that a judge in Luxembourg has issued a ruling to seize $1.6 billion of assets belonging to the Central Bank of Iran in Europe. The New York Times reported on Monday that after two decades during which U.S. courts could not sue foreign governments, Congress made a legal exception regarding terrorism-related cases. The report adds that so far, more than $50 billion in damages have been awarded in absentia against Tehran in U.S. courts due to lawsuits filed by the families of victims of terrorist attacks against Iran. The New York Times further noted that these rulings seemed mostly symbolic, and Iran was even unwilling to defend itself against these claims in U.S. courts; however, now such cases have intersected with a legal event related to national security, namely the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) with six world powers. The report specifies that for the first time, a group of families of victims of terrorist attacks who had previously obtained a default judgment against Iran from a U.S. court have gone to Europe to enforce this ruling. The New York Times states that informed individuals have said a judge in Luxembourg quietly issued the order to seize $1.6 billion of Iran's assets in Europe. According to the report, issuing domestic court rulings against one country by another can have diplomatic and security repercussions. The New York Times wrote that under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of nuclear sanctions against it. The six world powers also agreed to facilitate Iran's integration into the global economy by lifting these sanctions. However, such a goal could be complicated by rulings in Europe to block Iran's assets on the continent, potentially undermining this agreement. The report adds that the reason for the limited media attention to the Luxembourg ruling is that the proceedings of this case have been conducted entirely confidentially; however, details of the case are now circulating in a letter in Washington. The New York Times wrote that the lawyers for the families of the victims have requested in a letter to the Prime Minister of Luxembourg on Thursday to help prevent Iran's efforts to lift the seizure of its assets. The report adds that the lawsuit that led to the initial default judgment in the U.S. was filed by the families of the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. In earlier stages of this case, an American judge concluded that Iran had failed to refute claims regarding its support for the hijackers of the September 11 attacks and was therefore liable for damages related to these attacks. Dennis Ross, an Iran advisor in the Obama administration, stated that European countries supportive of the nuclear deal will try to counter such efforts. In this context, a New York court also ordered Iran to pay '10 billion dollars' in damages.