U.S. top court says Iran must pay $2 bn to terror victims

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, April 20 that Iran must hand over nearly $2 billion in frozen assets to survivors and relatives of those killed in attacks blamed on the Islamic republic, AFP reports.

In a 6-2 decision, the court upheld rulings in favor of victims and relatives of the 241 U.S. service members killed in the 1983 bombing of U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing that killed 19 Americans in Saudi Arabia, and other attacks blamed on Iran.

More than 1,000 Americans are affected by the decision.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the court's opinion rejecting the Iranian central bank's efforts to block payments to victims and relatives, AFP says.

Matthew McGill, a partner at Olson's firm, said his legal team will "promptly" ask the lower court supervising the funds to carry out the Supreme Court ruling and distribute the award.

It was also a win for President Barack Obama's administration and for Congress, which passed a 2012 law ordering Iran's Bank Markazi to turn over frozen bond assets it held in a New York account at Citibank.

Iran argued the law was unconstitutional as it violated separation of powers, with U.S. lawmakers ordering a particular result in a legal case, but federal courts rejected that claim and backed the law.

The lower courts also denied the central bank's request for legal immunity.