US Court Orders Iran to Payout $1.68 Bln to Families over 1983 Beirut Bombing


Caption: FILE - Rescue workers sift through the rubble of the US Marine base in Beirut in Oct. 23, 1983, following a massive bomb blast that destroyed the base and killed 241 American servicemen.
Caption: FILE - Rescue workers sift through the rubble of the US Marine base in Beirut in Oct. 23, 1983, following a massive bomb blast that destroyed the base and killed 241 American servicemen.
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US Court Orders Iran to Payout $1.68 Bln to Families over 1983 Beirut Bombing


Caption: FILE - Rescue workers sift through the rubble of the US Marine base in Beirut in Oct. 23, 1983, following a massive bomb blast that destroyed the base and killed 241 American servicemen.
Caption: FILE - Rescue workers sift through the rubble of the US Marine base in Beirut in Oct. 23, 1983, following a massive bomb blast that destroyed the base and killed 241 American servicemen.

A federal judge in New York ordered Iran's central bank (Bank Markazi) and a European intermediary on Wednesday to pay out $1.68 billion to family members of troops killed in the 1983 car bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Lebanon.

US District Judge Loretta Preska said a 2019 federal law stripped Bank Markazi, the Iran central bank, of sovereign immunity from the lawsuit, which sought to enforce a judgment against Iran for providing material support to the attackers, according to Reuters.

The Oct. 23, 1983, bombing at the Marine Corps barracks killed 241 US service members.

Victims and their families won a $2.65 billion judgment against Iran in federal court in 2007 over the attack.

Six years later, they sought to seize bond proceeds allegedly owned by Bank Markazi and processed by Clearstream to partially satisfy the court judgment.

Clearstream Banking SA is based in Luxembourg and is parent to the company Deutsche Boerse AG.

Iran’s Bank Markazi has argued that the lawsuit was not allowed under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), which generally shields foreign governments from liability in US courts.

Preska said the 2019 law authorizes US courts to allow the seizure of assets held outside the country to satisfy judgments against Iran in terrorism cases, "notwithstanding" other laws such as FSIA that would grant immunity.

A Luxembourg court in 2021 ordered Clearstream not to move the funds until a court in that country recognizes the US ruling. Clearstream has appealed that decision.

In January 2020, the US Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling in the families' favor, and ordered the case to be reconsidered in light of the new law, adopted a month earlier as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

A US Supreme Court ruling in April 2016 referred to three cases, including the American families of people killed in the 1983 bombing of a US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, the 1996 Khobar Towers truck bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 US service members and the 2001 bombing of Sbarro Pizza Restaurant in Jerusalem.

In 2018, Iran filed a lawsuit with the Hague-based ICJ against the United States based on the Treaty of Amity signed between the two sides on 15 August 1955, seeking to have sanctions against Tehran lifted.

The United States had tried to argue that Iran could not base claims at the World Court on a 1955 bilateral friendship pact. However judges found the treaty, signed decades before Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and the sharp deterioration in ties with Washington, could be used as a basis for the court’s jurisdiction.



Belgian King Denounces Gaza Abuses in Unusually Direct Remarks

Belgium's King Philippe delivers a speech on the occasion of the upcoming Belgian National Day at the Royal Palace in Brussels, Belgium July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Pool/File Photo
Belgium's King Philippe delivers a speech on the occasion of the upcoming Belgian National Day at the Royal Palace in Brussels, Belgium July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Pool/File Photo
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Belgian King Denounces Gaza Abuses in Unusually Direct Remarks

Belgium's King Philippe delivers a speech on the occasion of the upcoming Belgian National Day at the Royal Palace in Brussels, Belgium July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Pool/File Photo
Belgium's King Philippe delivers a speech on the occasion of the upcoming Belgian National Day at the Royal Palace in Brussels, Belgium July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Pool/File Photo

Belgium's King Philippe described abuses in Gaza as a "disgrace to humanity" in a speech on the eve of Monday's national day, unusually direct remarks on international affairs from a monarch who traditionally avoids public politics.

"I add my voice to all those who denounce the serious humanitarian abuses in Gaza, where innocent people are dying of hunger and being killed by bombs while trapped in their enclaves," he said speaking at his palace in Brussels, Reuters reported.

"The current situation has gone on for far too long. It is a disgrace to all of humanity. We support the call by the United Nations Secretary-General to immediately end this unbearable crisis."

It was the first time Philippe has spoken out so strongly and unambiguously about a conflict in public. Belgium's federal government has been more reserved in its criticism of the conflict in Gaza.

The king's role in Belgium is limited to giving advice, support, and warnings to the government without making any political decisions.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza following an October 2023 attack on Israeli towns by Hamas-led fighters. Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 59,000 people in Gaza, according to health officials there. Much of the territory has been laid to waste and Israel has restricted food and other supplies.

Israel denies that its forces commit abuses in Gaza and says restrictions on supplies are needed to prevent aid from being diverted by militants.