Iranian Hostages and the Algiers Accords

The Washington Post had a confusing piece this weekend about the State Department’s efforts to block compensation claims of the 52 American hostages held by Iran. The story attempts to paint a picture of the Bush Administration in general, and the State Department in particular, displaying callous disregard for the claims of the hostages against Iran. Quoting Rep. Brad Sherman, the article laments, “We have 52 of our finest Americans who were held hostage. They go to court, and you know who appears against them? The State Department.”

The problem is the hostages quite clearly do not have the law on their side. Paragraph 11 of the Algiers Accords obligates the United States to “bar and preclude the prosecution against Iran of any pending or future claim of the United States or a United States national arising out of events … relating to (A) the seizure of the 52 United States nationals on November 4, 1979, (B) their subsequent detention.”

Anyone with any familiarity with the negotations between Iran and the United States knows that the release of the hostages depended upon certain non-negotiables, including the barring of all current and future litigation in the United States courts. Had the United States refused to make such a commitment, the deal would have foundered. One may debate whether the Carter Administration should have struck the deal that it did, but it strains credulity to conclude that the law does not bar these claims.

So what is the United States to do? It essentially has four options. It can violate this executive agreement, but one cannot seriously argue that U.S. courts have or would countenance such a position. See Roeder v. Iran, 333 F.3d 228 (D.C. Cir. 2003). Second, it can change the law, but this would require supervening legislation that currently is lacking. Third, the State Department can take care that the law is faithfully executed, and intervene to oppose compensation for the hostages in U.S. courts. Fourth, the United States can unilaterally provide compensation to the victims from its own funds.

Each of these choices has its risks and rewards. But it seems odd that the Washington Post came so close to arguing that the State Department is doing a disservice to the nation in demanding the respect of this law, the same law that secured the release of the hostages who now complain of its very existence.