Judge throws out suit by former hostages against Iran

WASHINGTON -- In a case pitting the Bush administration against former U.S. hostages, a federal judge on Thursday reluctantly threw out the ex-hostages' lawsuit against Iran.

Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan said they were barred from collecting damages for trauma they suffered two decades ago.

"This court has no choice but to ... dismiss this case," Sullivan said, because the U.S. government agreed in 1980 to bar lawsuits as a condition for the release of the 52 Americans.

They spent 444 days in captivity when the Iranian government took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

"Were this court empowered to judge by its sense of justice, the heartbreaking accounts of the emotional and physical toll ... would be more than sufficient justification" for granting relief, Sullivan wrote in a 98-page opinion.