U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on $2 Billion Compensation from Iranian Assets

On Wednesday, April 20, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that $2 billion of Iran's frozen assets must be paid to the families of American victims of the 1983 bombings at the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and other attacks linked to Iran. According to Reuters, this ruling was made with a majority of six justices in favor and two against, contrary to the appeal made by the Central Bank of Iran. The Central Bank of Iran challenged a New York appellate court ruling in 2014 regarding its funds held in a Citibank account in New York, which had ordered that the funds be paid to American claimants. Last year, the lawyers for the Central Bank of Iran requested the Supreme Court to reconsider the rulings issued by American courts against its properties and assets. Reports last December indicated that the Supreme Court was hesitant to make a final decision on the $2 billion compensation claim from a group of terrorism victims based on the seizure of the Central Bank of Iran's assets. The core issue of this legal case was that the U.S. Congress, in 2012, passed a law allowing $2.65 billion from Iran's frozen assets in the U.S. to be compensated to the families of the victims, which interfered with the federal courts' review and ruling process. Several Supreme Court justices raised concerns that Congress had unlawfully attempted to impose its will on the judiciary and dictate the final ruling of this case. In its recent ruling published on Wednesday, the Court stated that the congressional statute did not strip American courts of their right to accept lawsuits from the families of victims of Iran-related attacks. Over 1,300 Americans have filed lawsuits against the Islamic Republic of Iran seeking compensation for the 1983 suicide bombings in Beirut that killed 241 Marines, the 1996 terrorist bombing in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, which left 19 dead, and other attacks carried out by militia groups linked to Tehran. Over the past 20 years, Congress has repeatedly changed the law to facilitate legal actions against state sponsors of terrorism, and American courts have consistently ruled in favor of the claimants. However, the Islamic Republic of Iran has refrained from executing American court rulings, prompting the claimants' lawyers to target Iranian assets in the United States. Both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans in Congress, as well as the Obama administration, supported the families of the victims in this case. The Supreme Court's ruling appears to usher in a new wave of tension in U.S.-Iran relations. A spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry warned the U.S. last December that if it seizes the Central Bank of Iran's assets to compensate the victims of terrorist incidents, it would be responsible for compensating Tehran. Hossein Jaberi Ansari added, 'The recent attempt in the U.S. Supreme Court to seize the Islamic Republic of Iran's assets is the final stage of a lawsuit filed since 2007 in various U.S. courts against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is contrary to established principles of international law and has no legal validity.'