SAN FRANCISCO — Four creditors seeking to recover assets from Iran over injuries suffered during terrorist attacks have obtained a favorable decision in court.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, on the bench of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, issued an 18-page ruling on Dec. 19 granting summary judgment and a motion to stay in the lawsuit, filed by Michael Bennett against Franklin Resources Inc.
Bennett and others sued Franklin Resources after being awarded damages against Iran for injuries they suffered during terrorist attacks that were carried out with support and assistance of that country.
Those plaintiffs have collected a total of $195,900,000 in partial satisfaction, which exceeded in value all the blocked assets. The assets were at Bank Melli, Iran's main financial institution, that was the subject of blocking through executive orders which determined the blocking of assets of those states that engaged or contributed to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
"On Jun. 28, 2005, acting pursuant to, inter alia, the authority vested in him by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”), President Bush issued Executive Order 13,382," which "blocked all property located in the United States owned by any entity 'determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Treasury, the Attorney General, and other relevant agencies, to have engaged, or attempted to engage, in activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a risk of materially contributing to, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery,'” the ruling said.
On February 2012, "President Obama issued Executive Order 13,599, which blocked 'all property and interests in property of the Government of Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran, that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person,'" it said.
Bank Melli was removed from the scope of both executive orders in 2016.
In his ruling, Judge Breyer granted the summary judgment and the stay, saying that "the court is sympathetic to plaintiffs' argument that they are presently entitled to the funds and such entitlement should not [be] jeopardized through delay, but the court cannot short-circuit the appellate process or the requirements of civil procedure."
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Case number 3:11-cv-05807-CRB