US judge orders Iran to pay more than $400 million to victims
Associated Press
Washington, September 16
A federal judge has ruled that the Iranian Government must pay more than $400 million in damages to eight Americans injured in a 1997 suicide bombing in Jerusalem.
US District Judge Ricardo M Urbina said the attack at a crowded pedestrian mall was carried out by members of the radical Islamic group Hamas, which the State Department says receives training, money and operational support from Iran.
Powerful explosive devices loaded with nails, screws, pieces of glass and chemical poisons killed five people and wounded nearly 200 in the September 4, 1997, attack.
The lawsuit is among dozens filed against Iran under a 1996 US law that allows Americans to sue nations listed by the United States as sponsoring terrorism for damages suffered in terrorist acts. The Iranian government has not responded formally to any of the lawsuits.
In the Jerusalem bombing decision, issued on Wednesday, Urbina awarded nearly $110 million in compensatory damages, which compensates for actual harm, to the eight Americans directly injured in the attack and $13.5 million in compensatory damages for emotional suffering to four family members of the victims. He also awarded $300 million in punitive damages to be shared among victims.
Victims of foreign terrorism who win judgments against Iran are allowed to collect a portion of their compensatory damages from the US government. Frozen Iranian assets in the United States serve as collateral for the payments.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_377232,0005.htmIran to keep calm over ultimatum
Dan De Luce in Tehran
Monday September 15, 2003
The Guardian
Iran insisted yesterday it would not make "nervous and tough reactions" to a decision by the UN's atomic watchdog that demands Iran prove it has no nuclear weapons programme by the end of October.
The country's leadership seemed stunned by the resolution adopted last Friday by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The resolution calls on Iran to answer all unresolved questions about its nuclear programme by October 31.
After threatening to break off cooperation with the IAEA, Iran's envoy to the body, Ali Akbar Salehi, said his government would keep working with UN inspectors, the newspaper Iran quoted him as saying.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is designed to generate electricity and that equipment was "contaminated" with enriched uranium by a previous owner.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1042064,00.html