Iran court issues $312.9M judgment against US amid tensions
Washington PostApr 26, 2023
On Wednesday, an Iranian court ordered the US government and eight US officials and entities — including former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as the CIA — to pay $312.95M over the 2017 twin attacks in Tehran.
The 55th branch of the Tehran Court of Justice's ruling — based on complaints by families of the victims — aims to prevent what it called "further US violations of international law" and accuses the US of being complicit in the creation of terrorist groups, including the Islamic State (IS).
Tehran's false claim that the US is in cahoots with IS is outrageous. No direct evidence supports the court's ruling, which is an obvious attempt to get even following numerous — legitimate — orders passed by US courts over the years that have held Iran accountable for orchestrating terrorist attacks on foreign soil. The US must push back against Iran's subversive activities that attempt to create an anti-American axis across the region and destabilize the global order.
While the US may not have directly ordered the 2017 attacks, in an effort to advance its global hegemony, it made conditions in the Middle East ripe for terrorism, as seen in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, where many citizens continue to suffer the consequences of the US' farce War on Terror. The US government must own up to its role in the 2017 attacks and, more importantly, recognize that it's the incubator of terrorism, not the cure.
There's a 49% chance that Iran will possess a nuclear weapon before 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.