Iran court rules $330mln fine against US over 1980 coup plot

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
26 Aug 2023 15:32

The fine includes $30 million in compensation for the plaintiffs' financial and mental damages.

An Iranian flag over a building in Tehran (AFP)

An Iranian court ruled that the government of the United States must pay $330 million in compensation for physical and emotional harm it inflicted during the Western-backed 1980 Nojeh coup; a failed attempt to topple the newly-established Islamic Republic in Iran, Iranian media reported.

The relatives of Iranians killed in the coup attempt and victims filed a case against the US government and seven other defendants at Tehran's 55th branch of the Justice Administration for International Affairs.

The court determined that the US government must pay $330 million in compensation for preparing and staging the coup attempt, including $30 million in compensation for the plaintiffs' financial and mental damages.

The failed Nojeh coup attempt, also known as Operation Neqab, was a scheme masterminded by the United States in July 1980 to destabilize the newly created Islamic Republic of Iran and its administration.

With the disclosure of Operation Neqab, hundreds of those participating in the US-led coup were detained, including pilots and army officers.

It is noteworthy that the US and other Western powers have attempted several times to topple popular governments in Iran. Last week marked the 70th anniversary of the 1953 military coup carried out by American and British intelligence apparatuses to topple Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.

The CIA and the British MI6 worked toward empowering the monarchial rule of pro-Western Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1953 after Masaddegh rose to power in Iran.

By issuing a decree to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, in which Britain owned the majority shares, Mosaddegh emerged as a significant threat to British and US interests in the Middle East.

The then-Prime Minister was convicted of treason by a court martial following the August coup and was placed in solitary confinement for three years. He eventually died under house arrest in exile in 1967.