## Facts

- TWA Flight 847 departed Athens on June 14, 1985, carrying U.S. servicemen, including U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem, traveling in civilian clothing.
- Armed hijackers commandeered the aircraft shortly after takeoff and forced multiple diversions between Beirut and Algiers over roughly 16 hours.
- The hijackers targeted American servicemen for repeated, severe beatings; Stethem was executed by a gunshot to the head and his body was left on the Beirut airport tarmac.
- Surviving servicemen were transferred to allied militants in Beirut and held for about two weeks in harsh confinement, repeatedly threatened with torture and death, and used as leverage for political demands.
- Plaintiffs presented evidence that Iran, acting through its Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS), recruited, trained, armed, funded, and directed Hezbollah and related groups, and that Iran was designated a state sponsor of terrorism before the attack.
- The court found the hijacking, hostage-taking, and Stethem’s murder were planned and carried out with Iranian support and direction through MOIS and Hezbollah.

## Issues

1. Whether the FSIA terrorism exception removed Iran’s and MOIS’s sovereign immunity and provided subject-matter jurisdiction.
2. Whether Iran and MOIS were legally responsible for the hijacking, hostage-taking, torture, and extrajudicial killing carried out by Hezbollah and allied militants.
3. What compensatory and punitive damages were warranted for surviving hostages and for Stethem’s estate and family members.

## Decision

- The court exercised jurisdiction under the FSIA terrorism exception and held Iran and MOIS not immune from suit.
- After defendants defaulted, the court entered judgment only after finding plaintiffs’ evidence “satisfactory” as required by the FSIA.
- The court held Iran and MOIS liable for hostage-taking, torture, and extrajudicial killing based on their material support and direction of proxy actors who carried out the operation.
- The court awarded substantial compensatory damages (including pain and suffering, solatium, and economic losses) and imposed punitive damages calibrated to punishment and deterrence in light of MOIS resources.

## Legal Principles

- Under the FSIA terrorism exception (as then in effect), a foreign state and its agencies lose immunity for claims by U.S. nationals arising from specified terrorist acts, including hostage-taking, torture, and extrajudicial killing, when statutory prerequisites are met.
- In an FSIA default, liability is not established by allegation alone; the plaintiff must prove the claim by evidence satisfactory to the court.
- A state sponsor may be held civilly liable where terrorist acts are carried out by agents or proxies receiving the state’s material support, training, funding, and direction, and acting within the scope of that relationship.
- Compensatory damages in terrorism cases may include pain and suffering for direct victims, solatium for close relatives, and economic loss for wrongful death and related harms.
- Punitive damages may be awarded to punish and deter state-sponsored terrorism, with the amount informed by the severity of the conduct, degree of state involvement, and available resources.

## Conclusion

The court entered default judgment against Iran and MOIS, finding that their support and direction of proxy militants made them liable under the FSIA terrorism exception for the TWA Flight 847 hijacking, the hostages’ torture and captivity, and Robert Stethem’s extrajudicial killing, and it awarded significant compensatory and punitive damages to victims and families.


Stethem v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 201 F. Supp. 2d 78 (D.D.C. 2002)