TERROR VICTIMS GO AFTER IRANIAN ANTIQUITIES

Terrorism Victims Seek Redress from Iran - Michael E. Ross
A group of Americans is suing Iran, hoping to seize antiquities to satisfy a judgment against Tehran for sponsoring a deadly terrorist attack in Jerusalem. On Sept. 4, 1997, three suicide bombers attacked a pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, killing five people and injuring nearly 200 others. The militant Palestinian group Hamas claimed responsibility. Eight Americans who were "severely and permanently injured" in the carnage filed two suits against Iran, widely believed to fund Hamas. In September 2003, ruling that Hamas "has a close relationship with Iran," and that the bombing "would not have occurred without Iranian sponsorship," U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ordered Iran to pay $423.5 million in damages. Realizing it would be impossible to collect from the Iranian government, attorney David J. Strachman set his sights on Iranian antiquities, arguing that museums illegally removed historical artifacts from sites in Iran during the 1930s, making them a legitimate form of compensation for his clients. (MSNBC)