U.S. court orders Iran to pay millions of dollars to families of 9/11 victims

A United States (U.S.) court on Wednesday ordered Iran to pay millions of dollars to families of victims of the 9/11 attacks over Tehran’s alleged involvement in the attacks, local media reported.
According to the ABC News broadcaster, a federal judge in New York decided that Iran must pay compensation to members of 1,008 families, who filed the lawsuit in 2004.
The ruling faults Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the deaths of those people.
In accordance with the verdict, Iran will have to pay 12.5 million dollars for a killed spouse, 8.5 million dollars for a parent or 4.25 million dollars for a child.
Inspite of being filed in 2004, the lawsuit was allowed to proceed only in 2016 after the adoption of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act by the U.S. Congress, which made it possible to accuse sovereign states of supporting terrorism and hold them accountable.
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda (outlawed in Russia) hijackers crashed two airplanes into the World Trade Centre in New York City and one into the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
The fourth airplane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania after the passengers tried to take back control of the plane from the terrorist hijackers.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed and another 6,000 were injured in the attacks.
The Iranian role in the attack is a matter of disputes with some people believing that Tehran provided support for al-Qaeda.
At the same time, the 9/11 Commission found no direct evidence between Iran and al-Qaeda.