US Court Orders Iran’s Central Bank To Pay $168 Billion to Families of Beirut Barracks Bombing Victims

Iran’s central bank and a Luxembourg-based bank have been ordered to make a $168 billion payout to the family members of United States troops who were killed in a car bombing attack on the barracks housing US Marne Corps troops in Beirut in 1983. Iran is being held responsible for providing “material support” to the terrorist attackers. The bomb attack on Oct. 23, 1983, on the barracks housing the US troops killed 241 US service members. The victims and their families won a $2.65 billion judgment against Iran in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2007. In 2012, the US Congress passed a law mandating the frozen assets of Iran’s central bank, Bank Markazi, be turned over to the families as part of the settlement of the case. Bank Markazi challenged this law, but a 2014 ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the law. The US Supreme Court overturned the decision in January 2020 and ordered that the case be reconsidered in light of a 2019 federal law that stripped Bank Markazi of sovereign immunity from the lawsuit. The bank had argued that it was protected by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1975, which generally shields foreign governments from liability in US courts. Meanwhile, the Luxembourg-based Clearstream Banking SA, which is holding the funds in a client account, has said it is considering whether to appeal the decision.