A class action investigation has been launched against banks that allegedly violated United States sanctions against Iran, which allegedly caused numerous United States military members to experience EFP or IED detonation injuries.

Eligible participants would include United States military members who experienced EFP or IED detonation attacks in Iraq or Afghanistan, which terrorists were able to execute because of the sponsoring they allegedly received from Iran through several international banks.

According to The Telegraph, IEDs and EFPs were widely used by terrorists in Iran because they were being manufactured in large quantities. According to Adm. Mike Mullen, the weapons manufactured in Iran were being sent to Shiite extremists in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2011.

Mullen further stated that Iranian government officials were aware of the purpose of these weapons, but had continued to sponsor their construction anyways.

“Iran is very directly supporting extremist Shia groups, which are killing our troops. [T]hey are shipping high-tech weapons in there—RAMS, EFPs—which are killing our people and the forensics prove that,” Mullen said.

Overview of IED, EFP, and IRAM Weapons

The weapons manufactured in Iran for terrorist activities included:

• IED (Improvised Explosive Device): These devices are often used as roadside bombs, making them popular choices for terrorists in both Iraq and Afghanistan. This means that IEDs were responsible for a large number of deaths, with IEDs responsible for 63 percent of coalition deaths during the Iraq War in 2007. These devices were also used in the Afghanistan War from 2001 to the present, with 66 percent of the deaths caused by IEDs.
• EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrators): These devices have been labeled as “the most lethal weapon American forces faced in Iraq” by The New York Times. EFP devices are designed to pierce armor and other hard surfaces, which could be hidden far away from the road, can be camouflaged as rocks or debris and could travel over 100 yards.
• IRAM or RAM (Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions): Also called rocket-propelled bombs, which are filled with explosives and are powered by 107mm rockets. These devices were often launched from the back of trucks and could be deployed from a remote control.

This class action investigation was launched when the United States federal government had determined that the United States military service members who suffered EFP or IED detonation encounters, had the right to pursue legal action against the banks that allegedly sponsored terrorism.

Sanctions against Iran were established by Congress, to prevent the country from supporting any acts of terrorism or directly participating in them. While these sanctions had severely limited Iran’s ability to provide funding to terrorism, county officials had allegedly found banks that were willing to help circumvent these sanctions in exchange for financial kickbacks.

There have already been several banks that have reached settlements with the federal government, stating they were willing to help Iran sponsor weapon production and distribution in exchange for profit. Some of these banks include HSBC of UK, BNP Paribas of France, and Germany’s Commerzbank.

Any United States military members who suffered injuries from an EFP or IED detonation in Iraq or Afghanistan may be eligible for compensation.

If you or a loved one was injured or killed by an IED or EFP while fighting in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, legal recourse is available. Get help now by filling out the form on this page for a FREE case evaluation.

The attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or anti-terrorist class action lawsuit is best for you. (In general, anti-terrorist lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.) After you fill out the form, the attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual lawsuit or class action lawsuit is best for you. Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.

Learn More