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Related Posts The University of Chicago vs. Victims of Terrorby Daniel Pipes
In a fascinating and consequential case, a federal judge slapped down the University of Chicago for claiming that the Islamic Republic of Iran could not get a fair hearing in the American court system. Here's some quick background to this unusual development:
How to collect? Ever creative, Strachman, targeted some 20,000 antique clay tablets of Persepolis, dating from about 553 B.C.-330 B.C., the oldest Persian tablets with alphabetical inscriptions. These have been housed in Chicago since as far back as the 1930s, at the University of Chicago and the Field Museum and Strachman claimed them on the grounds that the university had acknowledged that they rightfully belonged to Iran. To fend off this unwanted claim, the university argued that it was protecting Iranian rights to the property, even though Tehran did not appear in court. But why had it not done so? Here is where the university also got creative, claiming that the Iranians were justified in staying away because of bad experiences with the American legal system. To this, U.S. District Judge Blanche M. Manning responded with fury in a June 22 ruling, She rejected as "wholly unsupported" the university's "brazen accusation that the courts of the United States are hostile to Iran and that, as a result, Iran should be excused from bothering to assert its rights."
July 6, 2006 update: The University of Chicago may be attempting to represent Iranian rights to the Iranian antiquities but the regime in Tehran is showing no gratitude. In a letter to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Abbas Salimi-Namin, head of Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, accused the university of keeping the ancient tablets "on various grounds and pretexts" and demanded their immediate return. Salimi-Namin calls on UNESCO's "sense of duty" to force the return of the objects. More threateningly, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchher Mottaki warned that if the tablets are turned over to the victims of terrorism, American museums would "face a similar measure from Tehran." July 13, 2006 update: An Iranian official indicates his government will use diplomacy and cultural channels to regain the clay tablets in question, reports Nazila Fathi in the New York Times. July 17, 2006 update: Despite Tehran's growling, it has hired a Chicago attorney, Michael McCormick, to represent its interests in the University of Chicago case. Both sides present this as good news. "For the first time, Iran, which our government has designated a state sponsor of terrorism, is acknowledging that it is going to have to abide by the decision of a U.S. court," says David Strachman. "This development leaves us in a very good place," says Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute, where the tablets are housed. "The judge said we couldn't represent Iran's legal interests. Well, now the Iranians are in court." July 18, 2006 update: In addition to McCormick, the Islamic Republic of Iran hired a Washington lawyer, Thomas Corcoran, who describes his mission this way: "Things were looking bad for the Iranians. Iran asked me to note an appearance to assert Iran's immunities." Other points of note in a Washington Post story:
Sep. 6, 2006 update: Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami took time out from his U.S. trip on Sep. 2 for a "private visit" to the Oriental Institute, where he met with its director, Gil Stein, and the University of Chicago's provost, Richard Saller. They discussed the tablets. Khatami stated that the tablets "do not belong to governments but to the Iranian nation and the world. These artifacts are not only part of the history and civilization of the Iranian nation but also belong to all mankind." Stein added that the university has "deep sympathy" for the victims but that turning over any objects of "cultural heritage" would be improper. In contrast, David Strachman said that in hosting Khatami, the U. of C. "is not just fronting for Iran but directly scheming with them." Apr. 13, 2007 update: Of course, two can play this game, and the Islamic Republic of Iran has appropriated the old U.S. embassy in Tehran to auction off by way of compensating Hossein Alikhani, an Iranian businessman abducted 15 years ago in a bungled sting operation by US customs agents. Abducted in the Bahamas in 1992 for violating American sanctions against Libya, Alikhani spent 105 days in a U.S. jail. Alikhani, who won a judgment of US$550 million four years ago in what appears to be the first lawsuit against the U.S. government for supporting terrorism, says that "The property has effectively been seized and is in my name. I hope to return to Iran in a few weeks to arrange the auction." The former embassy, currently hosts a some of Revolutionary Guards corps as well as an anti-American museum. July 31, 2007 update: Judge Manning has rejected the Iranian claim that, as a foreign government, it is exempt from a U.S. statute that requires it to The designate an official to answer questions from Strachman under oath. Ruling in Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 03c9370, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division (Chicago), Manning rejected Corcoran's argument that the clay tablets are protected by the Foreign Sovereigns Immunity Act. Nov. 15, 2007 update: I place this litigation in context in a column at "Washington Protects the Terror Masters." Related Topics: Academia, Counter-terrorism, Iran TrackBack URL for this post: http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/trackback.php/622/69ae8/991 Reader comments on this weblog entry
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