WASHINGTON: The 52 Americans held hostage in Iran more than 20 years ago cannot sue their captors, a federal judge ruled on Thursday, dismissing their suit and barring the once iconic figures from collecting damages against a nation still designated by the State Department as the world’s chief financier of international terrorism.

US District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that the Algiers Accords, the executive agreement that ended the 444-day crisis, still requires the US government to “bar and preclude” any suits by the hostages or their families.

Laws passed by Congress in recent years that allow US victims of state-sponsored terrorism to sue their tormentors, and specific congressional support for the Tehran hostages, were not enough to overcome that legal hurdle, Sullivan ruled.

“There are two branches of government that are empowered to abrogate and rescind the Algiers Accords, and the judiciary is not one of them,” Sullivan wrote. “The political considerations that must be balanced prior to such a decision are beyond both the expertise and mandate of this court. ... This court has no choice but to grant the government’s motions and dismiss this case.”

The emotional suit was seen as a test case for the validity of US agreements and treaties with other nations in the light of anti-terrorism laws that seek to financially punish sponsors of terrorism.

The Justice Department argued in court that national security interests demanded that the United States live up to those agreements — even if they were with countries the State Department designated as terrorism sponsors. Those interests must outweigh the rights of individual victims, they argued.

David Roeder, the US Air Force attache to the Tehran embassy when it was overrun and now retired, declined comment until he had time to inform the 137 members of the class-action suit. The former hostages and their families are members of the class.

Sullivan’s decision followed months of legal and political half-steps toward resolving the issue.

The suit was filed in 1998. Iran did not respond, and Sullivan entered a default judgment against that nation. The case was about to proceed to awarding damages last September when the Justice Department intervened, informing the judge of the provisions of the Algiers Accords.

In a Dec 13 hearing, Sullivan wondered aloud in open court if Congress had intended to overturn the Accords with anti-terrorism laws passed in 1996 and 2000.

Congress responded a week later. The bill was passed by both the House and the Senate and signed into law by President Bush.—Dawn/The Washington Post News Service.