NEW YORK – A US court has ordered Iran to pay more than $6 billion to families of the victims of the September 11, 2011 attacks that killed around 3,000 people, despite the fact that no direct link ever found to Tehran. The default ruling issued by a federal judge, George B Daniels of the Southern District Court of New York, stating that Iran, the country’s central bank, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were responsible for deaths of over 1,000 people in the 9/11 attacks. He, subsequently, ordered the Islamic Republic and its entities to pay “$12,500,000 per spouse, $8,500,000 per parent, $8,500,000 per child, and $4,250,000 per sibling” in compensation to the relatives of the victims. The ruling in the case – Thomas Burnett, Sr et al v. The Islamic Republic of Iran et al – was issued by the court as defended did not contest the case. The same judge also issued other default judgements against Iran in 2011 and 2016 that ordered the Islamic Republic to pay victims and insurers billions of dollars for damages and deaths in the hijacker attacks. Iran has not commented on the cases.
