Iranian court orders US to pay $22 billion over 2022 protests

An Iranian court has ordered the United States to pay $22 billion, accusing it of supporting mass protests in 2022, a judiciary spokesperson, Asghar Jahangir, announced on December 2.

He said at a weekly conference that the traces of the United States were evident in many crimes committed in Iran, including during the sinister events of autumn 2022, Caliber.Az reports, citing Asharq Al-Awsat.

"The US government has been ordered by a Tehran court to pay more than $22 billion for providing material and moral support to the 2022 rioters," the spokesperson added.

Amini's death sparked months of protests, resulting in hundreds of deaths, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands of arrests as authorities cracked down on what they called foreign-instigated "riots."

Jahangir accused the US and Israel of fomenting and "instrumentalizing tensions" in Iran at the time, without providing further details.

"These actions have resulted in the death of innocent people and considerable material damage, both private and public," he noted.

The unrest erupted nationwide in September 2022 after the death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.

In response to the unrest, Washington imposed new sanctions in October 2022 on at least 10 Iranian officials, and additional sanctions followed in 2024 against those accused of human rights violations during the protests, according to the US Treasury.

Since then, Iranian women have increasingly defied the dress code mandating the covering of their neck and head, a rule enforced since the 1979 revolution.

In mid-June, Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran, sparking a 12-day conflict during which the US briefly joined in strikes targeting key Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iranian authorities claimed the attack aimed to incite unrest and mobilise citizens to challenge the government.

By Jeyhun Aghazada