{"ID":55369,"name":"Ministry of Defense and Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran v. Elahi","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/cases\/2005\/04-1095","view_count":0,"docket_number":"04-1095","additional_docket_numbers":null,"manner_of_jurisdiction":"Writ of \u003Ci\u003Ecertiorari\u003C\/i\u003E","first_party":"Ministry of Defense and Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran","second_party":"Dariush Elahi","timeline":[{"event":"Decided","dates":[1140501600],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/39640"}],"lower_court":{"ID":5,"name":"United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/taxonomy\/term\/5"},"facts_of_the_case":"\u003Cp\u003EDariush Elahi sued in federal court claiming that the Islamic Republic of Iran had murdered his brother, and he won $300 million in damages. When Iran\u0027s Ministry of Defense won an arbitration award against a third party, Elahi sued to claim the award as part of the damages due to him. The Ministry objected, arguing that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA) granted its property immunity from such claims. The District Court ruled for Elahi on the grounds that the Ministry had waived its immunity when it sued to enforce its award against the third party. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the District Court\u0027s reasoning, but it also ruled for Elahi, pointing to a provision of the FSIA that excepts from immunity the property of any \u0022agency or instrumentality\u0022 of a foreign government if the agency is \u0022engaged in commercial activity in the United States.\u0022 The Ninth Circuit ruled that the exception covers any foreign state as long as it is \u0022engaged in commercial activity in the United States.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EIs the property of a foreign state excepted from immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 if the state is \u0022engaged in commercial activity in the United States?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003ENo. In an anonymous, unanimous \u003Cem\u003Eper curiam\u003C\/em\u003E opinion, the Court rejected the Ninth Circuit\u0027s reasoning and ruled that the exception only applies to \u0022agenc[ies] and instrumentalit[ies]\u0022 of foreign states, not to the states themselves. The Court faulted the Ninth Circuit for ignoring this \u0022critical\u0022 distinction. Although the Court\u0027s ruling was confined to the narrow legal question presented, the Court also hinted strongly that the Ministry of Defense of Iran should be considered an integral part of the state of Iran, not an \u0022agency or instrumentality\u0022 of the state. The Ninth Circuit\u0027s judgment was reversed and the case was sent back for further consideration consistent with the Court\u0027s opinion.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":null,"oral_argument_audio":null,"citation":{"volume":"546","page":"450","year":"2006","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_citation\/case_citation\/20575"},"decisions":[{"description":null,"votes":[{"member":{"ID":15060,"name":"John Paul Stevens","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/people\/john_paul_stevens","view_count":0,"last_name":"Stevens","roles":[{"id":2704,"type":"scotus_justice","date_start":188200800,"date_end":1277787600,"appointing_president":"Gerald Ford","role_title":"Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States","institution_name":"Supreme Court of the United States","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/preson_role\/scotus_justice\/2704"}],"thumbnail":{"id":32732,"mime":"image\/png","size":62101,"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/people\/john_paul_stevens\/john_paul_stevens.thumb.png"},"length_of_service":12611,"identifier":"john_paul_stevens"},"vote":"majority","opinion_type":"none","joining":null,"seniority":2,"ideology":-2.81,"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/decision_vote\/decision_vote\/178770"},{"member":{"ID":15049,"name":"Antonin Scalia","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/people\/antonin_scalia","view_count":0,"last_name":"Scalia","roles":[{"id":2693,"type":"scotus_justice","date_start":528094800,"date_end":1455343200,"appointing_president":"Ronald Reagan","role_title":"Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States","institution_name":"Supreme Court of the United States","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/preson_role\/scotus_justice\/2693"}],"thumbnail":{"id":32678,"mime":"image\/png","size":58944,"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/people\/antonin_scalia\/antonin_scalia.thumb.png"},"length_of_service":10732,"identifier":"antonin_scalia"},"vote":"majority","opinion_type":"none","joining":null,"seniority":3,"ideology":2.541,"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/decision_vote\/decision_vote\/178771"},{"member":{"ID":15113,"name":"Anthony M. 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