Iran, Sudan Held Liable for Cole Attack

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled March 31 that the Iranian and Sudanese governments are responsible for the deaths of sailors who perished during the October 2000 attack on the destroyer Cole. The Washington Post reported that the court ordered Iran and Sudan to pay $17 million to the family of Electronics Technician 1st Class Kevin Shawn Rux, who died in the attack. The ruling follows similar decisions by other federal courts, which held Sudan responsible for the incident. But it is the first such decision to hold Iran culpable as well, the Post reported. Seventeen sailors died and 39 more were injured when a bomb-laden watercraft on a suicide mission struck the Cole as the ship lay harbored in the port of Aden, Yemen, on Oct. 12, 2000.