Iran Condemned to Pay $104 Million in Compensation to Victims of Al-Khobar Bombing
A federal judge in Washington on Monday, September 10, condemned Iran to pay $104 million in compensation to the families of victims of the attack on a U.S. military base in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
According to Reuters, Judge Brinkema issued this ruling while Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps did not appear in court for their defense.
Judge Brinkema stated that 15 military personnel who were present at the eight-story Al-Khobar complex during the explosion suffered psychological harm as a result of the attack. She further emphasized that 24 relatives whose loved ones were injured in the incident also suffered psychological trauma.
The families of the victims filed for compensation based on the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act Against Terrorism.
Paul Gaston, one of the lawyers representing the families of the attack victims, said: “The plaintiffs are very pleased with the court’s decision and are now looking for ways to collect this compensation.”
On the evening of June 25, 1996, a fuel truck laden with TNT exploded in a parking lot opposite a building where approximately 100 U.S. Air Force personnel were stationed.
In the Al-Khobar towers bombing, 19 Americans were killed and 372 wounded, and two individuals who parked the fuel truck and drove away in a Chevrolet were later arrested by Saudi police.
Saudi Arabia and the United States pointed the finger of blame at Iran following the explosion at the American military base, but Tehran officials denied any involvement in the bombing.
FBI investigations into the Al-Khobar bombing case on June 21, 2001, led to an indictment against 13 members of Lebanese Hezbollah.
A U.S. federal court in 2006 condemned Iran for its involvement in the bombing and ordered it to pay $254 million to the families of 17 victims of the explosion.
In the 209-page indictment, the U.S. court noted that the truck bomb used in the Al-Khobar explosion was equipped at a military base in the Bekaa Valley under the control of Lebanese Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and that the attack was carried out with the permission of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Source: Radio Farda
