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Iran Sues U.S. to Take $2 Billion Payout Away From American Terror Victims

Iran President Hassan Rouhani
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani / AP
June 16, 2016

Iran has filed suit against the United States in the International Court of Justice, seeking some $2 billion in assets recently frozen by U.S. courts and awarded to American victims of terror attacks sponsored by the Islamic Republic, according to Iranian leaders.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced late Wednesday that Iran has sued the United States over the Supreme Court’s recent decision to award some $2 billion in Iranian assets to victims of the 1983 Beirut bombings, which was organized by the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani vowed to pursue the case until Iran retrieves the money set aside for these terror victims, according to comments published in the country’s state-controlled press.

"We shouldn’t remain silent vis a vis this event and we officially filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice yesterday [Tuesday] and will pursue the case until attaining results," Rouhani was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

"The U.S. courts have issued illegal rulings and said that the properties should be provided to the Americans and the families of those people killed in Lebanon and it is not clear what the Americans did in Lebanon (at the time) and how the issue is related to Iran," Rouhani was quoted as saying.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who has emerged as a close ally of Secretary of State John Kerry, also took aim at the Supreme Court ruling, saying in a recent press conference that Iran does not recognize U.S. court decisions.

"The U.S. has long been taking decisions against Iran which contradict the international laws and the Americans have filed different lawsuits against Iran during the past years; [but] we don’t recognize the U.S. courts' rulings," Zarif was quoted as saying in May.