Judge: Iran owes $254M in terror attack - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON - The Iranian government financed a 1996 terrorist attack that killed 19 Americans in Saudi Arabia and must pay $254 million to the victims' families, a federal judge ruled Friday.
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The ruling by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth allows families of the victims of the Khobar Towers bombing to seek their compensation from assets that have been seized from the conservative Islamic regime in Tehran.
On June 25, 1996, a truck bomb exploded in a military housing area known as the Khobar Towers dormitory near Dhahran. U.S. authorities have long alleged that the bombing was carried out by a Saudi wing of the militant group Hezbollah, which receives support from
Iran and
Syria.
Though Lamberth has previously ruled that a survivor of the blast could seek payment from Iran, Friday's ruling was the first time Tehran has been blamed for the deaths of the Americans in the bombing.
"The defendants also provided money, training and travel documents to Saudi Hezbollah members in order to facilitate the attacks," Lamberth wrote. "Moreover, the sheer gravity and nature of the attack demonstrate the defendants' unlawful intent to inflict severe emotional distress upon the American servicemen as well as their close relatives."
Wow. The Khobar towers attack was done by Iran. And Saudi Arabia was not very cooperative in helping us find the bad guys. This was back during the Clinton years. He just kind of ignored it. I thought that the whole world loved the US, and there was no terrorism when Clinton was president. Guess that wasn't true. But without Bush as president, there would be no reason to hate the US, right? The whole world will love us again, and terrorism will stop. Or at least we'll just ignore it like Clinton did. I can't remember, how well did he do in his attempts to stop Korea from getting the bomb again?
WASHINGTON - The Iranian government financed a 1996 terrorist attack that killed 19 Americans in Saudi Arabia and must pay $254 million to the victims' families, a federal judge ruled Friday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth allows families of the victims of the Khobar Towers bombing to seek their compensation from assets that have been seized from the conservative Islamic regime in Tehran.
On June 25, 1996, a truck bomb exploded in a military housing area known as the Khobar Towers dormitory near Dhahran. U.S. authorities have long alleged that the bombing was carried out by a Saudi wing of the militant group Hezbollah, which receives support from
Iran and
Syria.
Though Lamberth has previously ruled that a survivor of the blast could seek payment from Iran, Friday's ruling was the first time Tehran has been blamed for the deaths of the Americans in the bombing.
"The defendants also provided money, training and travel documents to Saudi Hezbollah members in order to facilitate the attacks," Lamberth wrote. "Moreover, the sheer gravity and nature of the attack demonstrate the defendants' unlawful intent to inflict severe emotional distress upon the American servicemen as well as their close relatives."
Wow. The Khobar towers attack was done by Iran. And Saudi Arabia was not very cooperative in helping us find the bad guys. This was back during the Clinton years. He just kind of ignored it. I thought that the whole world loved the US, and there was no terrorism when Clinton was president. Guess that wasn't true. But without Bush as president, there would be no reason to hate the US, right? The whole world will love us again, and terrorism will stop. Or at least we'll just ignore it like Clinton did. I can't remember, how well did he do in his attempts to stop Korea from getting the bomb again?
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