$1.956 Billion for USS Cole Victims: Carlson Law Firm's Second Iran Judgment

On October 12, 2000, a small boat laden with explosives pulled alongside the USS Cole as the Navy destroyer refueled in Aden Harbor, Yemen. The blast killed 17 sailors and wounded dozens more aboard the 296-person crew. More than two decades later, surviving sailors and the families of those killed still had no civil reckoning from the foreign state that made the attack possible.

The Carlson Law Firm, based in Killeen, Texas, had already won once in that effort. In March 2023, attorneys Craig Carlson and Philip Koelsch secured a $807 million default judgment in Taitt v. Iran on behalf of 25 injured sailors and 33 family members, with Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia finding that Iran had provided material support and resources to Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda.

Gunn v. Islamic Republic of Iran brought a second group of plaintiffs before the same court. The complaint, filed April 30, 2021, covered 34 surviving sailors, 22 of their immediate family members, and 58 Gold Star family members whose loved ones died in the attack. Iran did not enter an appearance, and the case proceeded as a default under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act's terrorism exception, which strips sovereign immunity from states that have been designated sponsors of terrorism. Iran has held that designation since 1984.

Judge Contreras entered the default judgment on July 29, 2024. The court described the bombing as 'an Al Qaeda operation supervised directly by Bin Laden' and found that the FSIA's prerequisite conditions were satisfied, awarding damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress and compensation for pain and suffering. The total award came to $1.956 billion across 114 claimants.

The Carlson Law Firm led the plaintiffs' case alongside a co-counsel team that included Matthew McGill of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and the Law Office of DeJon R. Lewis, with the Law Office of Nelson M. Jones III and The Hall Law Firm also on the trial team.

Craig Carlson said after the ruling that representing the nation's veterans in the litigation 'brings an immense sense of pride.' The firm indicated it was pursuing a third judgment for additional USS Cole victims not covered by either lawsuit. The judgment against Iran, a default, does not guarantee collection, though FSIA verdicts can be enforced against Iranian sovereign assets held in the United States.