Iranian court fines U.S. gov't 330 mln dollars for role in 1980 coup plot

TEHRAN, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian court has ruled that the U.S. government must pay 330 million dollars in compensation for damages caused by a failed U.S.-plotted coup against Iran in 1980, the Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary reported Saturday.

The ruling was issued by the 55th branch of the Tehran Court of Justice, after hearing, in an open session on July 24, the complaints filed against the U.S. government and seven other defendants by the families of three victims and those injured during the coup, said the report.

According to the ruling, the U.S. government has been sentenced to pay a compensation of 30 million dollars to the plaintiffs and an additional 300 million dollars in punitive damages, it added.

The coup plot was aimed at toppling the newly established Islamic Republic of Iran and its founder Imam Khomeini, a few months after the U.S.-backed Shah regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in a revolution in 1979.

The plan involved a large number of Iranian military officers and servicemen and was foiled through the arrest of hundreds of them on July 9 and 10, 1980, near the western province of Hamedan.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Document Center revealed in 2017 that the U.S. had played a significant role in plotting and staging the coup, by providing "financial assistance" for the coup plotters and other means.