New York District Judge George Daniels on Tuesday ordered Iran to shell out $6 billion to compensate relatives of those killed in the terror attack on September 11th, 2001.
Specifically, Daniels wants Iran to pay $12.5 million per spouse, $8.5 million per child and parent, and $4.25 million per sibling. The ruling calls for an interest rate of nearly 5%, which begins starting the day of 9/11.
In his judgment, Daniels claims Iran provided support, including training, to the hijackers and specifically names “the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran” as responsible for the deaths of more than 1,000 people.
The ruling is considered a “default judgment,” which can be issued when a defendant does not contest the case in court (the defendant in this case being the country of Iran). Daniels issued similar judgments in 2011 and 2016, ordering the country to pay victims and insurers billions of dollars. Tehran has ignored the rulings.
The official US investigation into 9/11 implicated Saudi Arabia, not Iran, with Tehran’s only possible involvement being the fact that some 9/11 hijackers traveled through Iran without having their passports stamped.
Families of victims are also suing Saudi Arabia, which is believed to have “provided material support to the 19 hijackers who crashed commercial airliners into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington,” reports Aljazeera. Of those hijackers, 15 were from Saudi Arabia, 2 were from the UAE, 1 was from Egypt, and 1 was from Lebanon.
The lawsuits against SA and Iran are possible under the 2016 Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which enabled US courts to sue other countries in cases involving terrorism.
Author’s Note: No matter your opinion of Iran, this is a stupid and senseless verdict designed only to provide closure for families of victims that are looking for someone to blame.
Their blame is wasted on Iran, which our own investigation says is not responsible for the attack. Not only does the charge do nothing for victims (because Iran will never pay), but it also opens the US to major lawsuits from enemies around the world. Such lawsuits could tie up our courts for decades.
Editor’s Note: The courts run on precedence. Now people around the world can sue the U.S. for whatever conspiracy they want to hold us responsible for, and they have a price set by a court. This will go nuts.