Iran court rules US must pay $4bn over 2009 terrorist attack in Sistan and Baluchestan
An Iranian court has ruled that the United States must pay more than four billion dollars in damages for its complicity in a 2009 deadly terrorist attack in the country’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan.
The 55th Branch of the Legal Court of International Relations of Tehran Justice Department issued the verdict on Wednesday and said the US government and officials have been sentenced to pay 4.130 billion dollars following a lawsuit lodged by 142 survivors of the horrific assault in 2009.
The Jundallah terrorist outfit, backed by the US administration and led by Abdolmalek Rigi, carried out a suicide bombing attack in Pishin Dirstrict in Sistan on October 18, 2009, claiming the lives of more than 45 people and injuring 57 others in the deadliest terrorist attack in Iran since the 1980s.
“The terrorist group was created with the design and financing of the American government, and all the terrorist acts of this outfit were ordered and approved by the American government against the people of Iran,” the verdict said.
Underlining that Rigi was later arrested and put on trial by the Islamic Republic while heading to an American base in Central Asia, the verdict added, “After the arrest of the ringleader of the group, he presented several documents stating that the terrorist outfit was under the control of the American government and provided with ample financial, logistical or military and training support.”
The ruling also stated that the US government has a long history of creating and supporting terrorist groups across the world, the most notorious of which was Daesh that enjoyed the full support of Washington.
“This group is currently one of the tools of plundering the people of the world, including the oppressed people of Syria. The US government supports any terrorist group that operates against the Iranian people as it harbors hostility towards the Iranian people.”
Sistan and Baluchestan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has been witness to several terror attacks targeting both civilians and security forces in the past years.
Iran’s security forces have protected the border and managed to repel almost all assaults by foreign-backed terrorists.
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