Luxembourg judge says can't rule yet on $1.6 billion claim against Iran

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - A Luxembourg judge denied on Wednesday a request from Iran to annul claims by families of victims of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on $1.6 billion of Iranian assets in Luxembourg, saying a court had to rule on the fundamentals of the case first.

The assets Iran held with Luxembourg-based clearing house Clearstream were frozen as part of international sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme and had in theory become available to Iran when those sanctions were lifted after a deal in 2015.