1983 US Embassy Bombing in Beirut — the full case file

The Beirut bombing killed eight CIA employees, wiping out most of the agency's entire Beirut station. A suicide car bombing destroyed the U.S. Embassy in Beirut on April 18, 1983, killing 63 people, including embassy staff, CIA personnel, U.S. military members, and Lebanese civilians. The Islamic Jihad Organization claimed responsibility; U.S. courts later attributed the attack to Hezbollah with Iranian backing, which Hezbollah has denied. On April 18, 1983, a suicide bomber detonated a van packed with explosives at the U.S. Embassy compound in Beirut, killing 63 people and wounding about 120. On April 18, 1983, the Islamic Jihad Organization claimed responsibility in a phone call to a news office; President Reagan denounced the attack. On April 19, 1983, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to approve $251 million in additional aid for Lebanon; Iran denied involvement. On April 20, 1983, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the aid request with an amendment requiring congressional authorization for expanded U.S. military role in Lebanon. On October 23, 1983, Suicide bombings struck the U.S. Marine barracks and French paratrooper barracks in Beirut. On September 20, 1984, a car bomb exploded at the relocated U.S. Embassy annex in East Beirut, killing 20 Lebanese and two American soldiers. On May 30, 2003, Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., ruled that the bombing was carried out by Hezbollah with Iranian financing and approval. On September 8, 2003, Judge John Bates awarded $123 million in a default judgment to 29 American victims and family members. The case remains unsolved. This case file is kept in memory of its five victims and the people they loved. The full sourced case file, with every fact cited, is at casepin dot org.

Transcript from the video’s narration track. For every source, open the case file.