Iran Owes Victims of Its Terror $43 Billion.
The nuclear deal grants Iran a $150 billion payoff while victims & families await compensation
By Congressman Pat Meehan
Among the many dangerous consequences of the proposed nuclear deal with Iran will be the removal of an array of sanctions on Iran and the Ayatollah’s regime. The removal of these sanctions and the release of Iranian assets frozen overseas will pump $150 billion into the Iranian economy seemingly overnight.
Many of these dollars will line the pockets of Iran’s radical Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IRGC, through its paramilitary Quds Force, has funded some of the world’s most violent Islamic terrorist groups and has left in its wake decades of bombings, hijackings, murders and kidnappings.
Hundreds of Americans are among Iran’s victims. Courts have found Iran complicit in some of the most horrific acts of terror in American history, including the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, and the 9/11 attacks.
Federal law allows the victims of state-sponsored terrorism to bring suit against the nations responsible. To date, American courts have awarded some $43.5 billion in damages to Iran’s victims and their families, all of which has gone unpaid.
In other words, Iranian hardliners will soon get a multi-billion dollar payday — while Americans who suffered at the hands of Iran and its terrorist allies still await compensation for the damages incurred.
That’s why I’ve introduced the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act. The legislation requires the Obama Administration to certify that Iran has paid every penny it owes its victims before it receives any sanctions relief.
Every American victimized by Iran and its agents has a story to tell. Many of them, or their families, have successfully brought suit in federal court and been awarded damages.
Below are just some of the victims that have been awarded judgments by U.S. courts:
California
Marla Bennett of San Diego, CA was a 24-year old student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem when she was killed in a bombing in July 2002. Part of a $655.5 million judgement
Yael Botvin of Claremont, CA, was killed in a 1997 suicide bombing on Yahuda Street in Jerusalem. $30.8 million judgment
David Jacobson of Huntington Beach, CA was abducted in 1986 in Lebanon and held for 17 months. $9 million judgment
Malcolm Kerr of Los Angeles, CA, an American University of Beirut professor, was killed by a gunshot wound in January 1984. $33 million judgment
Alann Steen, originally of Boston and later California, was a professor at the American University of Beirut. He was abducted in January 1987 and held for 1775 days. $342.7 million judgment
Rev. Benjamin Weir of Salt Lake City and California’s Bay Area was in Lebanon for missionary work when he was abducted and held hostage in 1984. $311 million judgment
Peter Kilburn of Berkley, CA, a librarian at the American University in Beirut, was abducted and killed in 1984. $11 million judgment
Colorado
Thomas Sutherland of Fort Collins, CO, the dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut, was abducted and held hostage for six years. $323.5million judgment
Connecticut
Matthew Eisenfeld of West Hartford, CT and Sara Duker of Teaneck, NJ were killed in a 1996 bus bombing while traveling from Jerusalem to Jordan. $327 million judgment
Washington, DC
Jerry Levin of Washington, DC, the CNN Beirut bureau chief, was abducted in 1984 and held hostage for 11 months on the charge of being a foreign spy. $28.8 million judgment
Yonatan Barnea of Washington, DC was killed in a 1996 Jerusalem bus bombing. $316.9 million judgment
Florida
Daniel Wultz of Weston, FL was killed in a 2006 Tel Aviv suicide bombing. $322 million judgment
Idaho
John Turner of Boise, ID, a math professor at the American University of Beirut, was abducted and held hostage in 1987. $327 million judgment
Illinois
Lawrence Martin Jenco of Joliet, IL was held hostage in Beirut in 1985. $314 million judgment
Kentucky
Col. William Higgins of Danville, KY was abducted, tortured and killed by Hezbollah in Beirut in 1989. $355 million judgment
Massachusetts
Frank Reed of Medford, MA, the director of the Lebanese International School, was abducted in Beirut in 1986. $4.5 million judgment
William Buckley, a CIA officer from Concord, MA, was abducted in Beirut in 1984 and died in captivity. $310 million judgment
David Gritz of Peru, MA, was 24 years old when he was murdered in the Hebrew University cafeteria bombing. Part of a $655.5 million judgement
Maryland
Robert Stethem, a U.S. Navy petty officer from Waldorf, MD and Virginia Beach, VA was killed during the 1985 hijacking of a TWA Flight 847. His body was dumped onto the tarmac at the Beirut airport. $329 million judgment
Maine
Richard Brewer of Falmouth, ME, was wounded in the 1984 attack on the U.S. Embassy Annex in Beirut. $315.5 million judgment
Michigan
CWO Kenneth Welch of Grand Rapids, MI, was killed in the 1984 attack on the U.S. Embassy Annex in Beirut. $32.7 million judgment
North Carolina
Michael Wagner of Columbia, NC, a U.S. Navy petty officer, was killed by a car bomb outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1984. $316.2 million judgment
New Jersey
Alisa Flatow of West Orange, NJ was killed in a 1995 bus bombing while traveling to the former Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom on a teaching mission. $247 million judgment
David Goldman, originally of East Orange, NJ was killed in a 1992 suicide attack in Buenos Aires. $19.5million judgment
Judy Greenbaum of Passaic, NJ, was killed in the 2001 Jerusalem Sbarro pizza restaurant bombing. $19 million judgment
Leah Stern of Passaic, NJ was killed in a Jerusalem bombing in 1997. $313 million judgment
American University of Beirut President David Dodge of Princeton, NJ was abducted in 1982 and tortured in captivity for over a year. $5.6 million judgment
Rozana Sisso of New Jersey was killed in a Tel Aviv bus bombing in 2002. $20 million judgment
New York
Malka Roth, 15, of Brooklyn, NY was killed in a Jerusalem suicide bombing in 2001. $131 million judgment
Rabbi Meir Kahane of Brooklyn, NY was shot and killed in New York in 2008. $350 million judgment
Diane Campuzano of Greece, NY was injured in the 1997 bombing of Yahuda Street in Jerusalem. $412 million judgment
AP correspondent Terry Anderson of Batavia, NY was abducted in Beirut in 1991. $341 million judgment
Nachshon Wachsman, 19, a U.S. citizen from Brooklyn, NY serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, was abducted and killed by Hamas in 1994. $25 million judgment
Ira Weinstein of Long Island, NY died from injuries sustained in Jerusalem bus bombing in 1996. $570 million judgment
Jason Kirschenbaum of New Rochelle, NY was severely injured in a Hamas suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 2001. $12.5million judgment
Janis Ruth Coulter of Brooklyn, NY, was a 36-year old alumnae of Hebrew University killed in a July 2002 bombing. Part of a $655.5 million judgement
Ohio
Anne Dammarell of Cincinnati, OH, was injured in the 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beiruit. $6.8 million judgment
Alan Beer of Cleveland Heights, OH was killed in a 2003 bus bombing in Jerusalem. $300 million judgment
Pennsylvania
Benjamin Blutstein of Susquehanna Township, PA was a 25-year old at Hebrew University killed in a July 2002 bombing. Part of a $655.5 million judgement
Joesph Cicippio of Norristown, PA, was abducted on American University of Beirut’s campus in 1986 and held hostage for five years. $91 million judgment
Gail Belkin of Monroeville, PA was killed by a suicide bombing in Jerusalem while shopping for a wedding dress with her mother and daughter. $18.5 million judgement
Texas
Cyrus Elahi of Dallas, TX, a vocal critic of Iran, was assassinated in Paris in 1990. $311.7 million judgment
Utah
Ghollam Nikbin, born in Iran but made his home in Salt Lake City, UT was detained in Iran in 1995 and tortured over three years. $2.6 million judgment
Virginia
Robert Polhill, born in Beacon, NY and resided in Arlington, VA, was abducted in Beirut and held hostage for 39 months. $331 million judgment
Charles Kapar of Arlington, VA was a passenger on Kuwait Airlines Flight 221, hijacked in 1984. $13.5 million judgment
John Cronin of Alexandria, VA was abducted from a hospital in Beirut and beaten near death in 1984. $301 million judgment
Vermont
Edward Tracy of Burlington, VT was abducted in Lebanon in 1986 and held for 1,755 days. $18.5 million judgment
West Virginia
Frank Regier of Montgomery, WV, was abducted near the American University of Beirut campus in 1984. $4.4 million judgment
