September 11 Victims Want the US to Seize and Sell Iranian Oil

Even though Iran had nothing to do with 9/11, a US court ordered Iran to pay billions to victims of the attacks

Families of victims of the September 11th attacks have asked the US government to seize Iranian oil that might be on a US-owned ship in Asia.

Even though Iran had nothing to do with the September 11th attacks, a US court has ordered Tehran to pay out more than $3 billion to the families of 9/11 victims. The ruling doesn’t make much sense since nobody has ever seriously accused Iran of being behind the attacks.

But the families are still seeking the money, and since Iran would never voluntarily pay, they are asking the US to seize and sell the Iranian oil.

The oil tanker Suez Rajan is under federal investigation for allegedly carrying oil placed on the ship by the National Iranian Oil Co. and the National Iranian Tanker Corp, which are both under US sanctions. The 9/11 families submitted a court filing on Thursday night asking for the oil to be taken.

The court filing comes not long after President Biden moved to take money from Afghanistan to give to 9/11 families. Biden ordered $3.5 billion of frozen Afghan government reserves to be made available to 9/11 families through lawsuits.

Like Iran, the people of Afghanistan had nothing to do with the September 11th attacks. Afghanistan happened to be where Osama bin Laden was based at the time of the attacks, and the Taliban even offered to turn him over to the Bush administration in 2001.

Stealing Iranian oil is nothing new for the US, so it’s possible that the government complies with the court order. Although negotiations between the US and Iran to revive the nuclear deal appear to be close to concluding, and if the US moves to seize the oil, it could hamper the process.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.