Ministry of Defense & Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran v. Cubic Defense Systems, Inc.

These consolidated appeals arise from attempts by Stephen Flatow (“Flatow”) and Dariush Elahi (“Elahi”) to collect on default judgments they obtained against the Islamic Republic of Iran (“Iran”) in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. That court found Iran liable for the terrorist acts that resulted in the deaths of Flatow’s daughter and El-ahi’s brother. In both cases, the district court assessed substantial compensatory and punitive damages against Iran.

In the underlying case, Iran’s Ministry of Defense (“MOD”) successfully petitioned the District Court for the Southern District of California to confirm an arbitration award issued in its favor by the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”). The $2.8 million award had been issued against a supplier of military equipment, Cubic Defense Systems, Inc. (“Cubic”), and related to a claimed breach of contract by Cubic in providing military hardware to MOD. Shortly after the district court confirmed the arbitration award, Flatow moved to intervene in the case. The district court denied Flatow’s motion, and that decision is the subject of the appeal in case No. 99-56498. Later, both Flatow and Elahi moved to…