Supreme Court sides with museums in terror case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is preventing survivors of a 1997 terrorist attack from seizing Persian artifacts at Chicago museums to help pay a $71.5 million default judgment against Iran.

The court ruled 8-0 Wednesday against U.S. victims of a Jerusalem suicide bombing. They want to lay claim to artifacts at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History and the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the court that a provision of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act does not support the victims’ case. That federal law generally protects foreign countries’ property in the U.S. but makes exceptions when countries provide support to extremist groups.

The victims argued that Iran provided training and support to Hamas, which carried out the attack. Iran has refused to pay the court judgment.