Washington, DC – A US federal court has ruled that Iran is liable for damages and loss of life resulting from a series of terrorist attacks in Iraq. The court ordered Iran to pay $841 million in damages to 36 plaintiffs who lost relatives or had family members injured in those attacks.
In the 12-page ruling issued by Federal Judge Randolph D. Moss of the District of Columbia Court, the judge wrote: “The court recognizes that no amount of money, however large, can restore what the victims have lost in this case, especially as a result of the heinous acts committed by the Iranian government or the terrorist groups it supports.”
The court based its decision on the exception for states sponsoring terrorism in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). This law allows lawsuits against foreign states proven to have supported terrorist acts that resulted in losses to American citizens.
Judge Moss confirmed in his ruling that Iran provided substantial material support to Zarqawi’s group and Ansar al-Islam, which carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iraq between 2003 and 2017. He awarded approximately $420.7 million in compensatory damages and another $420.7 million in punitive damages to the plaintiffs.
For his part, Nicholas Reddick, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, said: “Although this verdict does not compensate for the suffering of those families, it does restore some sense of justice to them. Finally, someone responsible has been held accountable.”
In his ruling, the judge noted that “the plaintiffs have suffered deep and long-term suffering” as a result of those attacks.
This ruling is not unprecedented; US courts have previously issued similar judgments against Iran in cases related to supporting terrorism, ordering it to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation to victims of other attacks.
