Foreign Ministry:

U.S. Ruling on Tehran Link to 9/11 ‘Absurd’

Date: 06 May 2018 - 21:32

News ID: ۵۲۶۳۲

TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday vehemently rejected a court ruling in New York, which ordered the Islamic Republic to pay $6 billion to the families of those killed in 9/11 attacks in the United States.
Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said the default ruling issued by a judge in New York was politically-motivated, without any solid evidence or findings against the Iranian government or nationals as regards the 2001 terrorist attacks.
"Issuing such an absurd and unacceptable verdict mocks not only the international legal system but also the survivors and families of the victims of the September 11 attacks,” he said.
"The architects of this political game are seeking in vain to distort realities and change the result of legal proceedings in order to alter the final verdict in a stupid way,” Qasemi added.
Such efforts, the spokesman said, are aimed at hiding the role of the main culprits and rewriting the history at wish, but to no avail.
The Iranian spokesman underlined that the verdict stands in stark contrast to all acceptable norms of international law which call for judicial impunity for all sates in the world.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran preserves the right to respond to the illegal procedures,” he added.
The judgment, issued by Manhattan federal judge George Daniels on Tuesday, is hollow because Iran has never responded to the lawsuit and is unlikely to ever pay.
The lawsuit claims that Iran provided technical assistance, training and planning to the Al-Qaeda operatives that conducted the attacks.
However, the official investigation on the attacks, known as the 9/11 Commission Report, said that Iran did not play a direct role.
Nevertheless, Daniels insisted that the country was liable to more than 1,000 "parents, spouses, siblings and children” involved in the lawsuit.
He signed off on a pro forma default order against "the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran” after they refused to respond to the suit.
The lawsuit is not linked to a case filed against Saudi Arabia, which families of 9/11 victims say provided direct support for the attackers. Fifteen of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi citizens.