U.S. Supreme Court rules Iran must pay $2 billion to families of Marines who died in ’83 attack

Special to WorldTribune.com

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Iran must pay nearly $2 billion in frozen assets to victims and families of those killed in Teheran-sponsored terrorist attacks.

 Rescuers search through the rubble of the U.S. Marine barracks Oct. 23, 1983, in Beirut after a suicide truck bombing. / Jim Bourdier / AP
Rescuers search through the rubble of the U.S. Marine barracks Oct. 23, 1983, in Beirut after a suicide truck bombing. / Jim Bourdier / AP

The court on April 20 ruled 6-2 in favor of relatives of the 241 Marines who died in a 1983 terrorist attack in Beirut and victims of other attacks that U.S. courts have linked to the Islamic republic.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg rejected claims by Iran’s central bank that Congress was intruding into the business of federal courts when it passed a 2012 law that specifically directs that the banks’ assets in the United States be paid to the families.

More than 1,300 people are among the relatives of the victims of attacks that were carried out by groups with links to Iran.

Congress has repeatedly changed the law in the past 20 years to make it easier for victims to sue over state-sponsored terrorism. Federal courts have often ruled for the victims.

Iran has refused to comply with the rulings.

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