Iran's Parliament Authorizes Lawsuits Against U.S.
TEHRAN (AFP) - The Iranian parliament adopted Tuesday a law that would allow "victims of American interference" in Iran to sue the United States in Iranian courts, a parliamentary source said.
The bill was introduced by the majority of the reform-dominated parliament and was presented as a "reciprocal measure" to the recent decision by the US Congress to pay compensation to family members of U.S. victims of terrorism supported by Iran.
"The victims of United States interference in Iran following the coup d'etat of 1953 should be able to file suit as the Americans have done and, in doing so, prejudiced our interests," said Mohsen Mirdamadi, a reformist MP and chairman of the parliamentary commission on national security.
The 1953 coup overthrew the government of then Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh and permitted the return of the Shah to power. The United States this past summer admitted that it had played a role in that coup.
The details of the law will are expected to be discussed Wednesday.
U.S. lawmakers and the administration of President Bill Clinton agreed to use Iranian assets frozen in the United States after the 1979 Tehran embassy hostage taking as leverage to front money to eight U.S. families, the Washington Post reported last week.
It said the U.S. Treasury would disburse more than $213 million to the families, in effect marking the first time that foreign countries are being forced to pay damages under a 1996 U.S. anti-terrorism law.
Washington expects to get the money back through an international claim tribunal or negotiations with Iran, the paper said.
It said former Lebanon hostage Terry Anderson is to receive $41.2 million in compensation under the scheme, while the family of slain Marine Colonel William Higgins will receive $55.4 million.
Washington accuses Iran of being behind the kidnappings of all 18 U.S. citizens taken hostage during Lebanon's civil war in the 1980s.
An official at the Iranian mission of the United Nations told the newspaper that Iran does not recognize judgments returned by U.S. courts.
Iranian MPs last week blasted the measure as "illegal" and a "new hostile effort" against the Islamic republic.
