2 Ex-Hostages Sue Iran for $600 Million
Former hostages Joseph Cicippio and David Jacobsen sued Iran on Wednesday for $600 million, saying it orchestrated their abductions in an effort to recover millions of dollars frozen in the United States.
Iran was guilty of “commercial terrorism for profit,” lawyer James J. Oliver said, and because the money was held in the United States, Iran cannot claim sovereign immunity.
The two former hostages said no amount of money can compensate for their imprisonment. They said they would share any money gained with other former hostages and families of slain hostages.
“These people, including their families and their memories, scream for some form of justice,” Jacobsen said at a news conference, speaking by phone from his home in California.
Jacobsen, 61, of Huntington Beach, was director of the American University Hospital in Beirut when he was taken hostage on May 28, 1985. He was held captive for 532 days.
Cicippio, 62, was deputy comptroller of American University when he was abducted on Sept. 12, 1986, and held for 1,908 days. His wife, Elham, a Lebanese national, also is a plaintiff. They live in Princeton, N.J.
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