A court in Tehran has ordered the US government to pay $330 million in damages for its alleged involvement in planning a coup against the newly established Islamic republic in 1980, according to the judiciary.
Following the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the US-backed Shah, a group of mainly army officers attempted to overthrow the new government. The state news agency IRNA reported that the “insurgents,” led by former Iranian air force commander Saeed Mahdiyoun, had their headquarters at Nojeh air base in the western Hamedan province.
Clashes ensued between the coup plotters and the government forces, resulting in casualties and numerous arrests. The aim of the insurgents, according to IRNA, was to take control of military bases across the country and target strategic centers and residences of the revolution’s leaders. Despite their efforts, the coup was unsuccessful.
IRNA confirmed that last year, relatives of those killed in the coup filed a legal petition with Iran’s International Court, seeking damages. The petition specifically accused the United States of planning and executing the coup. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, ordering the US government to pay $30 million in material and moral damages, along with $300 million in punitive damages.
Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since the aftermath of the 1979 revolution. This court ruling adds to the strained relations between the two countries.
In 1953, the British and US intelligence services orchestrated the overthrow of then-Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, who had nationalized Iran’s lucrative oil industry.
In 2016, the US Supreme Court ordered the payment of Iranian assets frozen in the United States to victims of attacks that Washington has attributed to Tehran, including the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut and a 1996 blast in Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice criticized Washington’s freezing of funds belonging to Iranian individuals and companies, stating that it was “manifestly unreasonable.” However, the court maintained that it did not have jurisdiction to unfreeze nearly $2 billion in Iranian central bank assets currently frozen by the US.
Tehran, which denies any responsibility for the attacks attributed to it by the United States, claims that US court judgments have already awarded victims a total of $56 billion in damages.