Courts Lack Authority to Review Iran-US Claims Tribunal

Kiaie v. Islamic Republic of Iran,
2006 WL 3833946 (D.D.C. Dec. 29, 2006)

In this action, members of two families represented themselves pro se in an action against Iran. They claimed that during Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, corporations in which plaintiffs owned stock were seized by the government. The Kiaie and the Tavakoli family filed claims with the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal ("the Tribunal") in the early 1980s seeking compensation for the confiscation of the corporations. In 1996, the Tribunal denied all Kiaie plaintiffs relief. In 1997, the Tribunal awarded damages to one member of the Tavakoli family.

Plaintiffs apparently sought to challenge the Tribunal's rulings in federal court and obtain further relief against Iran. However, in adopting the magistrates findings, Judge Kessler ruled that the Court lacked authority to review decisions of the Tribunal. The Algiers Accords, which created the Tribunal, were designed specifically to eliminate Iranian liability in U.S. courts. Further, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act precludes litigation of any such claims against Iran.