Hegna v. Islamic Republic of Iran

MEMORANDUM ORDER

JED S. RAKOFF, District Judge.

Plaintiffs are the widow and children of Charles Hegna, an American diplomat murdered in a 1984 airplane hijacking orchestrated by Hezbollah, a terrorist organization with links to the Islamic Republic of Iran (“Iran”). In April 2000, plaintiffs filed an action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia pursuant to a provision of the 1996 Anti-terrorism and Death Penalty Act that amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) to revoke the sovereign immunity of nations that sponsor terrorism. See 28 U.S.C. §…