Iranian court orders U.S. to pay $170m for 2010 'terrorist attack'

An Iranian court has ordered the U.S. government and officials to pay $170 million in compensation to the families of Iranians killed and those injured in a "terrorist attack" in the southeastern port city of Chabahar in 2010.

The ruling was issued at an undisclosed date by the 55th branch of the Tehran Court of Justice following complaints filed by six people, including families of the victims and survivors of the attack, the Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary reported on Sunday.

A total of 39 people were killed and 70 others injured in a suicide bomb attack targeting a crowd gathered in front of a mosque for a religious mourning ceremony in Chabahar in mid-December 2010, according to the report.

According to Mizan, the Iranian court found the U.S. government and officials guilty of involvement in the attack by supporting the "terrorist group" Jundallah, which claimed responsibility for the operation at the time.

The ruling ordered the U.S. to pay $74 million in compensation for material and mental damages inflicted on the plaintiffs, along with $96 million in punitive damages, the report said.

This is the second ruling by the court against the U.S. government for involvement in the attack. In 2023, following a lawsuit filed by 93 injured individuals and victims' families, the court ordered the U.S. government to pay $2.66 billion in damages.

(Cover: A general view of the scene of a car bombing in front of a police station in the city of Chabahar, Iran, December 6, 2018 ./CFP)