The U.S. district court in the District of Columbia awarded $44.6 million in damages to two victims of the 1983 Marine barrack bombing in Beirut, which the court blamed squarely on Iran, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The attack, committed by the Islamist group Hizballah with technological and material support from Iran, killed 241 U.S. servicemen, making it the deadliest terrorist attack against the United States until September 11, 2001.

Legal experts say the case points to the strong ties that historically have linked Iran and Hizballah.

“The families of the servicemen killed and injured in the attack are outraged that almost a quarter-century later, we have yet to see the regime that perpetrated it held fully accountable,” said Virginia-based attorney Joseph Peter Drennan, who represented the U.S. servicemen in the case. “We hope that at long last, Iran is going to be made to pay and that justice will finally be done for the victims.”