Borochov v. Islamic Republic of Iran & Syrian Arab Republic

Rotem and Yoav Golan, along with relatives, sued Iran and Syria after a Hamas terrorist rammed his car into a Jerusalem bus stop in 2015. Although victims were injured, no one besides the perpetrator died. The district court awarded some damages, reasoning that Iran and Syria had provided material support for extrajudicial killings.

The D.C. Circuit vacated that judgment. Judge Millett, writing for the panel, held that federal courts lack subject-matter jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s terrorism exception because the statute applies only to completed acts such as “extrajudicial killings.” Since no death occurred, the attack was not an extrajudicial killing. The court also rejected arguments that providing material support for an intended killing without a resulting death was enough to confer jurisdiction. The case was remanded for dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims.