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US court orders Iran to pay 126 million dollars to Beirut bombing |
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Friday, 16 December 2005 |
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US federal judge has ordered Iran to pay
victims of a 1983 suicide bombing of the US embassy in Beirut 126
million dollars, lawyers for the victims said.
Judge John Bates of the US District Court for the District of Columbia
ruled Wednesday that Iran supported Hezbollah militants in the April
1983 bombing, the first suicide attack ever against a US embassy.
Citing evidence that Iran provided Hezbollah with arms, money and other
support, Bates ruled that Iran must pay 29 victims and their families
126 million dollars.
"We are pleased that the court has again recognized Iran to be at the
center of this heinous act of terrorism and that Iran will be called to
account for its actions," said Michael Martinez, a lawyer representing
the victims.
"We are hopeful that we will be able to enforce the judgment soon," he said.
The embassy bombing killed 63 people, including 17 US nationals. Anne
Dammarell, a former US Agency for International Development employee,
who was wounded in the bombing was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.
"This lawsuit is our way of fighting back," she said in a statement.
"It is the only way we have to make Iran accountable for the incredible
pain it inflicted through its support of Hezbollah."
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