Iran demands $50 billion compensation from US for interference

Iran will pursue a huge claim for damages from the US for what it cites as 'hostile action', after a parliament vote on Tuesday.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

17 May, 2016

The Iranian parliament is trying to counter US demands for compensation [Getty]

Iranian MPs voted in favour of a law allowing the government to demand compensation from the United States for 63 years of "hostile action and crimes", state television reported on Tuesday.

Tehran did not specify a sum for "material or moral damage" caused by the US during its coup against then leader, Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953.

It also wants reperations for the Washington's role in the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988, the destruction of oil platforms, and as well as surveillance used against Iran.

"The government has the duty to take the necessary measures seeking compensation for material and moral damages caused by the United States" , the text reads.

Vice President Majid Ansari said during the debate that "Iranian courts have already ruled that the US pay $50 billion in damages for its hostile actions" towards the country.

The parliament passed the law in response to a US Supreme Court decision last month that rules Tehran must compensate survivors and relatives of those killed in attacks attributed to Iran.

These include the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut as well as the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia - both of which were blamed on Iran. The ruling affects around a thousand Americans.

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In early May, President Hassan Rouhani suggested Tehran was responding to the US ruling by preparing an international legal action to recover the nearly $2 billion in assets frozen in New York as part of the US lawsuit.

"We will not allow the United States to swallow this money so easily," he affirmed.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials have accused the United States of not doing enough to encourage investment in Iran following the lifting of sanctions that resulted from the landmark nuclear deal.