The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and names as defendants the US Department of State, Secretary of State John Kerry, and Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew.
The United States has pledged to unfreeze and release the funds belonging to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), which are primarily held in overseas bank accounts, under the nuclear agreement signed with Tehran.
The families claim that releasing the funds will preclude them from ever collecting on their judgments and deprive them of the only leverage they have to make Iran pay.
Current legislation clearly states that sanctions should not be lifted absent Presidential certification that Iran no longer supports terrorism.