Victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism are finally set to be compensated to the tune of $318 million after the sale of a 36-story commercial and office tower in Manhattan, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced on Monday.
The United States first made efforts to begin seizing the 650 Fifth Avenue skyscraper in 2008, after learning of the Iranian government-owned bank’s secret interest in the property. After more than 17 years of litigation, hundreds of victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism will finally be paid out, following a global settlement.
Those being paid out include the American victims and family members harmed by Iran’s actions in Israel, including in the 2001 bombing of a Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem, suicide bombings through the 1980s and 1990s, and the family of Rabbi Meir Kahane.
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an Israeli attorney, human rights activist, and the founder of Shurat HaDin – Israeli Law Center, told The Jerusalem Post that the payment came about after a “decades-long litigation battle, marked by delay after delay. But thanks to the vigilance and determination of the lawyers involved – and the resilience of the victims – justice is finally within reach, along with meaningful compensation.”
“Notably, while the armed forces of the United States and Israel strike at the infrastructure of the terror regime in Tehran, the victims have been fighting on another critical front: seizing the regime’s assets through the courts. This case is a powerful example of that effort. Remarkably, it resulted in a building in the heart of Manhattan – just steps from Trump Tower – being transferred into the hands of those targeted by anti-Israel and anti-Western terror,” she said. “This case demonstrates just how much the Iranian regime values its assets. They fought this litigation relentlessly for years, taking it all the way to the Supreme Court, only to ultimately lose to the victims they sought to evade.”
Darshan Leitner stressed, “It is time for other countries to follow this model: to strip Iran of its immunity and allow terror victims to enforce their judgments against the regime’s assets worldwide. This is how we can weaken Iran without conquering Tehran.”
While the building was originally constructed using the funds of a charitable foundation controlled by the former shah of Iran, the Islamic regime seized control of the foundation after the revolution in 1979. After seizing control of the charity, the regime created a partnership with the sanctioned state-owned Bank Melli Iran.
Ownership of 650 Fifth Avenue deemed a 'deceptive structure'
Bank Melli Iran controlled its interest in the building through front companies known as Assa that were established in the Isle of Man and in New York, according to the US Justice Department, in what is described as a “deceptive structure.”
The department claimed that the building’s owners attempted to conceal Bank Melli Iran’s ownership interest and facilitated the payment of tens of millions of dollars of income from the building’s operations to Bank Melli through Assa. In October 2008, the US Attorney’s office filed a forfeiture complaint against Bank Melli Iran’s interest in the building and amended the complaint in 2009.
Numerous groups of judgment creditors holding judgments against the government of Iran for injuries resulting from state-sponsored terrorism filed claims against the building, the building’s owner, and Assa after the forfeiture complaints.
“Iran has sponsored terrorism for decades,” said US Attorney Jay Clayton. “Since the inception of this litigation, the overriding goal of the Department of Justice has been to vindicate the rights of victims of the government of Iran’s long-standing policy of supporting and promoting terror attacks across the world, including 9/11. This office’s many years of determined litigation show our unrelenting commitment to victims’ rights and have led to this significant recovery. For nearly two decades, we pursued hidden Iranian government assets tied to a Manhattan skyscraper to ensure those funds would ultimately compensate victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism rather than terrorists and their enablers.”
In January 2025, the Attorney’s Office, the victims’ groups, and the building’s owner entered into final settlement, following earlier settlements in 2014 and 2017, which saw the claims dismissed for a payment of $318 million to the victims’ groups, consisting of an initial payment of $129 million and a deferred payment of $189 million to be paid in three years, plus interest. The initial $129 million payment was completed on Friday.