International Litigation

7 Finally, the Court rejected the argument that the terrorism exception should apply because it arose from Iraq's conduct prior to the President's waiver; die general presumption against statutory retroactivity was overcome by principles of sovereign immunity.8 In Ministry of Defense & Support for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran v. Elahi, the plaintiff tried to execute his default judgment against Iran by attaching a U.S. judgment in Iran's favor confirming an arbitration award against a third party defense contractor.9 The Ninth Circuit previously held that the property was immune under Section 1610(a) of the FSIA, which limits execution to a foreign state's property that is both in the United States and used for a commercial activity in die United States, but found it amenable to attachment under a separate exception to sovereign immunity contained in the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), which allows execution of a terrorism-related judgment against statutorily defined blocked assets of a terrorist state.10 The Supreme Court left undisturbed the Ninth Circuit's application of Section 1610(a), but reversed with regard to die TRIA, finding that the plaintiff waived his right to attach die property under the latter statute when he accepted compensation from the U.S. government as a holder of a terrorism-related judgment against Iran.11 B. AGENCIES AND INSTRUMENTALITIES OF A FOREIGN STATE 1.