Deborah Peterson and other plaintiffs brought a lawsuit in U.S. federal court against the Islamic Republic of Iran , and obtained a judgments against Iran for its role in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings ( in which 241 Marines were killed ) and for other acts of international terrorism . While foreign states usually enjoy immunity from claims in court , the plaintiffs invoked an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 that allows foreign states to be held liable for acts of state-sponsored terrorism . The central bank of Iran , Bank Markazi , challenged the execution of the judgment on various ground . However , in 2012 , Congress passed , and President Barack Obama signed , the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 , which specified that the judgment in the '' Peterson et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran et al. '' would be subject to execution and also abolished Bank Markazi to the execution of judgment . Bank Markazi challenged this statute as unconstitutional , arguing that Congress had unduly interfered with a judicial function by intervening in a specific case ; however , the U.S. Supreme Court , in '' Bank Markazi v. Peterson '' , ruled 7-2 that Congress 's act was constitutional . Iran had denied any involvement in any of the bombings . Iranian president Hassan Rouhani called the action " blatant robbery "
1983 Beirut barracks bombings
1983 Beirut barracks bombings
Iranian frozen assets