Quick Facts
Biography
Stephen Flatow is an American lawyernotable for initiating a series of lawsuits targeting the Islamic Republic of Iran and several international banks who processed transactions on Iran's behalf, which were linked to terrorist activities.
Flatow is the father of Alisa Flatow, who was killed in a suicide bombing attack on a bus carried out by militants belonging to the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine group near Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip in 1995. After his daughter's death, Flatow commenced a series of lawsuits against the government of Iran. An amendment to the US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, which enabled Flatow to successfully sue Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism is named after him ("The Flatow Amendment").
Beginning in 2006, he has helped the United States government identify parties illegally processing financial transactions for Iran.
He has also written op-eds on issues related to terrorism for a number of newspapers.