It Belongs in a Museum: Sovereign Immunity Shields Iranian Antiquities Even When It Does Not Protect Iran Page: 1 of 3
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Informing the legislative debate since 1914
It Belongs in a Museum: Sovereign Immunity
Shields Iranian Antiquities Even When It
Does Not Protect Iran
Stephen P. Mulligan
Legislative Attorney
March 22, 2018
Foreign sovereign immunity may protect property owned by nations designated as state sponsors of
terrorism, even when it does not shield the nations themselves, the Supreme Court held in Rubin v.
Islamic Republic of Iran. In an 8-0 opinion delivered by Justice Sotomayor (with Justice Kagan recused),
the Court ruled that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) did not permit U.S. victims of Iran-
sponsored terrorist attacks to seize a collection of Persian antiquities on loan from Iran to a museum at the
University of Chicago. Rubin underscores a common side effect of the FSIA's terrorism-related
exceptions to sovereign immunity: although victims of terror attacks may be able to obtain judgments
against state sponsors of terrorism-currently, Iran, Sudan, Syria, and North Korea-they often have little
chance of seizing covered states' property when seeking to collect their financial awards.
Background on Rubin
Rubin arose from a 1997 triple suicide bombing on a crowded pedestrian mall in Jerusalem. Hamas
claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed five bystanders and injured nearly 200 others. Among
those wounded were eight U.S. citizens who, along with a group of close relatives, filed suit alleging that
Iran should be held liable for the attacks because it provided material support and training to Hamas.
When Iran did not appear to defend itself in the case, the district court entered a $71.5 million default
judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.
Iran did not pay the judgment, leaving the plaintiffs to identify Iranian assets in the United States that
were available for collection. Because various statutes and executive orders have restricted the transfer of
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Mulligan, Stephen P. It Belongs in a Museum: Sovereign Immunity Shields Iranian Antiquities Even When It Does Not Protect Iran, report, March 22, 2018; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1157146/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.