Landmark ruling forces frozen Iranian assets to compensate families of American victims of Iranian sanctioned terrorism, including deadly Hezbollah attacks.
By Tova Dvorin
The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of American terror victims on Wednesday, awarding over $2 billion in Iranian assets to the families of victims murdered in Iran-backed attacks.
Iranian flag – Thinkstock
The court doled a heavy blow to Iran’s central bank, Bank Markazi, by a 6-2 ruling, Reuters reports.
Tehran had appealed a 2014 New York Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholding the legality of a 2012 law, which stated that the frozen funds should go toward the $2.65 billion judgement the families won against Iran in a US federal court in 2007.
Over 1,000 American families had been involved in the ruling, which follows a lengthy legal battle over the fund and over compensation for Iranian terror attacks.
Among the attacks were a Hezbollah attack in 1983 on a US Marine Corps base in Beirut, and the 1996 Khobar Towers truck bombing in Saudi Arabia.
Wednesday’s ruling, written by liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, determined that a Congressional intervention to help pass the 2012 law did not violate the US Constitution’s separation of powers.
Matt Wanderman contributed to this report.
View original Arutz Sheva publication at:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/211194#.VxecKmP8fFI
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