January 10, 2020
A federal judge has or-dered Iran to pay Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and his family nearly $180 million in damages after the reporter was imprisoned for almost 18 months before being exchanged for Iranians imprisoned in the US for violating sanctions.
Judge Richard J. Leon of the United States District Court of for the District of Columbia awarded $150 million jointly to Rezaian, his mother and brother, in addition to $30 million for their own individual damages, according to a court order filed November 22.
“Iran seized Jason, threatened to kill Jason, and did so with the goal of compelling the United States to free Iranian prisoners as a condition of Jason’s release,” Leon wrote in his ruling.
“Holding a man hostage and torturing him to gain leverage in negotiations with the United States is outrageous, deserving of punishment and surely in need of deterrence.”
Rezaian’s wife was not among those awarded damages because the law allowing suits against Iran by “victims of terrorism” only allows suits by US citizens.
The judge’s order was a default judgment because the Iranian government put on no defense.
While it is highly unlikely that Iran will pay any damages, they could be paid from a fund established by Congress in 2015 to pay “victims of terrorism.” The fund, which has paid out more than $2 billion, was initially created with a federal appropriation and has since been augmented with Iranian government money and other property that has been seized.
Over the last quarter-century since the law was passed in 1995 allowing American “victims of terrorism” to sue Iran and a few other countries, Iran has been ordered to pay them almost $60 billion.
