Iran Court Orders US To Pay $50 Billion For Soleimani’s Assassination

A Tehran court has mandated the United States government to compensate nearly $50 billion in damages for the assassination of an Iranian General, Qasem Soleimani, which occurred almost four years ago.

The court’s decision stems from a lawsuit filed by over 3,300 Iranians, with the US government facing charges of “material, moral, and punitive damages.”

Former US President Donald Trump authorized a drone strike near Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020, resulting in the death of Soleimani and his Iraqi associate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. In response, Iran launched missiles at bases in Iraq housing American and coalition troops.

The Tehran court found 42 individuals and legal entities, including Trump, the US government, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, guilty in this case.

Soleimani, renowned for leading Iran’s Middle East operations and considered a hero from the Iran-Iraq war, commanded the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

This ruling is part of a series of verdicts against the US by Iranian courts. In a separate case last month, an Iranian court ordered the US government to pay $420 million in compensation for a failed 1980 hostage rescue operation.

Another Tehran court in August demanded $330 million from Washington, accusing it of “planning a coup” in 1980 against the Islamic Republic.

These legal actions follow compensation rulings against Tehran by US courts, including the 2016 US Supreme Court decision to allocate frozen Iranian assets in the United States to victims of attacks blamed on Iran.

Tehran, in turn, has sought international justice to release frozen funds belonging to Iranian individuals and companies.

Despite these legal confrontations, Iran and the US have maintained no diplomatic relations since the aftermath of the 1979 revolution.