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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Hezbollah Hostage’s Son|Awarded $4.5 Million

WASHINGTON (CN) - Iran owes $4.5 million to a man whose father was abducted, held and tortured over the course of three years by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon, a federal judge ruled.

Tarek Reed sued Iran under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) decades after Hezbollah released the man's father, Frank Reed, to a hospital. Frank Reed had been abducted in broad daylight 1,330 days earlier while living in Beirut and subjected to routine torture by captors who wanted to know if he worked for the CIA.

Reed, who was 6 years old at the time of the abduction, left Lebanon with his mother and resettled in Massachusetts. When his father returned home, after years of electrocution, poisoning and torture, he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and developed a heavy drinking problem. The erratic behavior allegedly led to Reed to develop his own substance-abuse problems and severe depression.

Reed moved for summary judgment on his claims against Iran and its defense ministry, which he accused of supporting Hezbollah. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina partially granted the motion Tuesday.

"Sovereign immunity poses no bar to the plaintiff's claim," Urbina wrote.

The judge awarded Reed $4.53 million for emotional distress but dismissed Reed's claims for relief under state and international law.

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