Posted on 04/06/2015 8:19:11 AM PDT by SJackson
Obama administration asked to weigh in on terror case at delicate time for US-Iran relations
Case involves compensation for victims of the 1983 Lebanon US Marine Corps barracks bombing.
WASHINGTON - The US Supreme Court on Monday asked President Barack Obama's administration to weigh in on an appeal by the Iranian central bank over whether $1.75 billion must be paid to victims of the 1983 Lebanon US Marine Corps barracks bombing.
In a brief order, the court said it wants to hear the administration's views on whether the nine justices should hear the appeal filed by Bank Markazi. If the court ultimately declines to take up the case, the money must be turned over to families of the victims.
The court's action comes at a delicate time for American-Iranian relations, with the United States and other world powers last week reaching a framework agreement intended to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
The Iranian central bank is appealing a July 2014 ruling by the New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals that the money held by Citibank in New York should be handed over.
The money, currently held in a trust account, will go toward paying off a $2.65 billion US court judgment that the victims' families won against Iran in 2007.
The families accused Iran of providing material support to Hezbollah, which carried out the attack that killed 241 U.S. servicemen.
The lawsuit was filed in 2010 after the US Treasury Department uncovered the funds at Citibank, part of Citigroup Inc.
The case is Bank Markazi v. Peterson, US Supreme Court, No. 14-770.
We can guess who’s side the administration will take and it’s not the victims of the murdered Marines..................
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Iran kills Marines in Lebanon. Families win a judgement in a US court. The money to pay the judgement is in the US. And I have to wonder which side Obama will come down on. As do most Americans reading this article. What a condemnation of his Presidency.
No one wonders...and he does not care!
He paid the Iranians $6 billion. Even if he doesn’t demand their payment, he could deduct it from the amount he so graciously gave the Iranians.
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