USS Cole Victims Awarded Nearly $2 Billion in Default Judgment

Injured US Navy sailors and family members of those killed won a nearly $2 billion default judgment against the Islamic Republic of Iran for the October 2000 terrorist bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.

The sailors and family members brought claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress and sought compensation for pain and suffering under 1605A of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Because the Islamic Republic of Iran didn’t enter an appearance, the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment was granted, said Judge Rudolph Contreras of the US District Court for the District of Columbia Monday.

The court’s prerequisites for FSIA were met and Iran’s sovereign immunity waived because the country was designated a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984 and has remained so ever since; the victims were also members of the armed forces working for the government, Contreras said.

Plaintiffs include 58 immediate family members of Navy sailors killed in the attack, 34 sailors who suffered injuries and emotional trauma, and 22 immediate family members of who also experienced emotional trauma from the incident and aftermath.

The terrorist bombing of the USS Cole, an “Al Qaeda operation supervised directly by Bin Laden,” killed 17 US Navy sailors and injured dozens of others; the ship had a crew of 26 officers and 270 enlisted personnel, Contreras said.

The case is Gunn v. Islamic Republic of Iran, Dist. Ct. D.C., No. 21-1187, 7/29/24.