In a significant development, a Tehran court has directed the US government to pay nearly $50 billion in damages for the assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a drone strike ordered by then-US president Donald Trump near Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020.
This ruling follows a series of legal actions against the US by Iranian courts. Last month, an Iranian court ordered $420 million in compensation for victims of a 1980 operation, and in August, a Tehran court demanded $330 million for alleged coup planning in 1980.
While Iran appeals to international justice for frozen funds, the International Court of Justice, in March, deemed Washington’s freezing of nearly $2 billion in Iranian central bank assets “manifestly unreasonable” but lacked jurisdiction to unblock the funds.
Iran and the US, without diplomatic relations since the aftermath of the 1979 revolution, continue to navigate complex legal disputes and frozen assets.
