A #judge has ordered #Iran to pay for its #terrorist support.

In a 16-page decision issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina sided partially with Tarek Reed, whose father was abducted, held and tortured by Lebanese terrorists over the course of three years. The judge ordered Iran to pay $4.3 million, plus interest, because of the government's support for Hezbollah, whose operatives conducted the kidnapping.

In a heart-rending recitation of facts, Judge Urbina recounted how Reed was six years old when his father was kidnapped in 1986. Writes the judge:

"The gunmen abducted Reed and threw him into the back of a car, where he was driven to a hideout and subsequently held in captivity for the next several years. Immediately after his abduction, Reed’s captors repeatedly interrogated and beat him, demanding to know if he was an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency. During the following 1,330 days, Reed was subjected to routine torture. Reed was kept in shackles and confined in a cell that was so small that he could not stand upright...Reed was forced to wear a blindfold for so long that he suffered numerous eye infections. Id. He was subjected to electrocution, arsenic poisoning and countless beatings. Nevertheless, Reed’s greatest dread – in his words, "the worst thing that could happen to a man" – was the fear of dying alone."