Ministry of Defense and Support for Armed Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran v. Elahi

Summary

The Supreme Court vacated the Ninth Circuit's judgment allowing attachment of assets belonging to Iran's Ministry of Defense under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The Court held that the Ninth Circuit erred in applying the commercial activity exception for agencies and instrumentalities without determining whether the Ministry was a foreign state itself or an agency or instrumentality. The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.