US Supreme Court ruling on assets amounts to theft: Iran

Iran said Thursday that the US Supreme Court's decision to deduct $2 billion from Tehran's frozen assets to compensate American victims of terror attacks amounted to theft.

"The ruling is considered stealing the Islamic Republic of Iran's properties and naturally the onus of compensation of damages to Iran... falls on the US administration," foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said.

The spokesman said the decision went "against international law".

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Iran must hand over nearly $2 billion in frozen assets to survivors and relatives of those killed in attacks blamed on the Islamic republic.

The attacks included the 1983 bombing of US Marine barracks in Beirut and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.

The decision affects more than 1,000 Americans.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the court's opinion rejecting the Iranian central bank's efforts to block payments to victims and relatives.

"We are extremely pleased with the Supreme Court's decision, which will bring long-overdue relief to more than 1,000 victims of Iranian terrorism and their families, many of whom have waited decades for redress," said Theodore Olson, a former US solicitor general who represented the relatives of the victims.