U.S. Hostages from 1979 Iranian Revolution May Finally Be Compensated

Years of litigating and recent weeks of lobbying appeared to have paid off on Tuesday when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a landmark bill addressing the pending Iran nuclear weapons deal that included a new sort of rescue for a famous set of U.S. hostages.

Standing to benefit is a legal class of 151 surviving U.S. diplomats, civilian federal employees, spouses, children and estates related to the 52 Americans who were held hostage in Tehran for 444 days following the overthrow of the Shah of Iran and subsequent turmoil in 1979.

Attached to the larger Iran negotiations bill is a bill (S. 868) that would seek compensation and justice for the hostages—most of whom endured torture-- by imposing a 30 percent surcharge on the fines of any entity such as a business that violates economic sanctions against Iran.

“I am extremely pleased this bill includes the amendment I introduced expressing a sense of Congress that the administration must address the issue of compensation for Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 terrifying days from 1979-81, as well as the Iranian government’s human rights abuses and support of global terrorism,” said chief sponsor Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., on Tuesday. “The Iran hostages sacrificed mightily for our country, and we owe it to them and their families to see to it that the nation of Iran compensates them for the damages perpetrated upon them.”

Co-sponsors include Sens. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; and Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

The amendment—which would allot $10,000 per day of captivity to each claimant-- is also backed by the State Department, which has been prohibited for nearly 35 years from paying restitution to the hostages because of the so-called Algiers Accords signed in 1981 under the Carter administration, which shielded the revolutionary Islamic Republic of Iran from legal attack.

Tom Lankford, an Alexandria, Va.-based international lawyer who has worked for the surviving hostages and their families since 1999, expressed satisfaction that the group’s lobbying effort “was able to use the current focus of the strobe light on Iran to finally obtain justice.” It was important to everyone, he added, that the “funding source be something other than taxpayer funds,” and taking money from the “criminals” who violate sanctions against Iran was the best surrogate for Iran. “Because of the age of so many in our group,” he told Government Executive, he is hoping for executive action so that some settlements could be delivered immediately and the Treasury Department-controlled fund replenished at a future time.

Though the hostages returned home to credit for their regular pay received during the year-plus in captivity, there was little appetite for further restitution “because the country wanted a ticker-tape parade,” Lankford said. What many forget is the “horrific pain and suffering they went through physically and mentally.”

Many were in solitary confinement for nine months without access to a toilet, losing as much as 80 lbs., the attorney said. They were stripped and blindfolded and beaten with pipes, threatened daily with execution by firing squad in the notorious Evin Prison, where—the diplomats knew—many Iranian political prisoners were tortured and executed. Some hostages attempted suicide, in Iran and after returning to the United States. “When you live in fear for your life for 444 days, and you honestly believe that the last sound you just heard could be the last sound you hear on earth, it takes a toll that can’t be erased,” Lankford said.

Tactically, the attorney explained, the class of hostages veered back and forth between pursuit of litigation and legislation. There was confusion even among lawmakers about whether domestic anti-terrorism legislation passed in the past two decades overrode the international agreement signed in 1981. Courts determined that the Algiers Accords still prohibited a straight-out government payment to the hostages without a new statute, which Lankford said, has had bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

A State Department official told Government Executive on Wednesday, “We remain deeply grateful to the former hostages for their service to this country and understand their frustration in securing compensation following their release. We believe [Isakson’s] Justice for Former American Hostages in Iran Act… aims to achieve our shared goal with Congress of providing additional compensation, and we will continue to work with Congress on this important issue.  As to current negotiations with Iran, we have been clear in saying that the ongoing nuclear talks are focused on one issue and one issue only – ensuring that Iran cannot acquire a nuclear weapon.”

The assertion that the pending nuclear weapons deal set for finalization in June is being planned without reference to human rights, terrorism and other issues in dispute with Iran was echoed Monday by White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. “Our view is that the commitments that Iran has made to limit and, in some cases, even roll back aspects of their nuclear program are critical to ensuring that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon…. There are a whole host of issues on the side that are also priorities but that are separate from our ongoing efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” 

The American Foreign Service Association, which is the union for retired and active U.S. diplomats, has also backed Isakson’s bill. Its president wrote to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee back in December 2013, saying, “All of these fellow Americans served our nation with honor and distinction, and they and their families deserve our nation’s eternal gratitude. Moreover, these individuals deserve the right to seek fair and equitable justice as victims of state-sponsored terrorism. AFSA applauds the State Department for working with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in an effort to give closure to the hostages and their families.”