US wins bid to seize Iran-owned tower

New York

FEDERAL prosecutors won a major victory in their nine-year effort to seize a midtown Manhattan office tower owned by an Iranian charity.

A jury on Thursday found that the charity Alavi Foundation was controlled by the Iranian government. It also agreed with prosecutors that the charity's management of the Fifth Avenue office building, which has generated millions of dollars in rental income annually, constituted a violation of US sanctions against Iran.