The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving the
long running dispute involving the seizure of Iranian
artefacts.
In 1997, American citizens were the victims of a terror attack
in Israel when three suicide bombers from the Palestinian extremist
organisation, Hamas, blew themselves up. A number of US citizens
and their families sued Iran (on the basis of claims that Hamas was
financed by Iran). A default judgment of US$71 million was made
against Iran by the federal district court of Washington D.C.
The challenge was to enforce the judgment. The victims
registered the judgment in Illinois for the purpose of attaching
Iranian artefacts housed in the University of Chicago's
Oriental Institute and the Field Museum. The plaintiffs identified
three specific collections; the Persepolis and Chogha Mish
Collections at the Oriental Institute and the Herzfeld Collection
at the Field Museum. Some of the items in the Persepolis Collection
include around 30,000 clay
