The NGO Shurat Hadin-Israel Law Center announced on Wednesday that approximately $9.7 million has been awarded to the families of five people who were wounded by a triple suicide bombing in central Jerusalem in 1997 by a federal court in the US State of California on 27 November. The money will come from funds that belong to the Islamic State of Iran but have been frozen in US accounts since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and reflect an earlier court ruling that Iranian intelligence agencies were directly responsible for the bombings due to their sponsorship of Hamas, which claimed credit for them. However, the court also issued a stay on the transfer of the funds until such time as Iran has a chance to appeal the decision, which due to many legal, diplomatic and political complexities, could drag out for many years. Read More
