EU top court dismisses Iranian bank’s sanctions challenge News
EU top court dismisses Iranian bank’s sanctions challenge

[JURIST] The European Court of Justice (ECJ) [official website] on Thursday threw out a challenge by an Iranian trade bank based in Hamburg after the bank questioned its inclusion on the EU’s sanction list. This action marks a victory for the EU, coming after many of its Iran sanction rulings were overturned by courts. The EU froze Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank (EIH) [official website] assets in 2011 as part of sanctions imposed on Iran that were intended to force Iranian leaders to reconsider their nuclear program. The ECJ upheld the lower court’s ruling that the EU was justified in putting EIH on the sanctions list, because EIH conducted transactions on behalf of blacklisted Iranian organizations [Reuters report] in September 2013. The EIH made a statement on their website, stating it is “preparing itself to reactivate its operations for the times to come when sanction restrictions are overcome.”

Over the past several years Iran has been subject to numerous sanctions for its contentious nuclear program, although some commentators doubt the efficacy of such sanctions [JURIST op-ed]. Iranian leaders have repeatedly claimed that the developing nuclear program is for peaceful purposes [JURIST report], but the international community, Israel in particular [JURIST op-ed], worries that Iran’s enrichment program was designed for military purposes. The London High Court in February rejected a request for an injunction [JURIST report] by Iran’s main oil tanker firm, NITC, which the company had sought to block the re-imposition of sanctions by the EU. In October the General Court temporarily removed sanctions [Times of Israel report] against NITC. In late December Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced [JURIST report] that Iran and the six world powers of P5+1 are set to resume low-level talks on Iran’s nuclear program in Geneva on Jan 15.