Dubai: Europe's General Court has annulled EU sanctions on Bank Tejarat, an Iranian commercial bank, and 40 Iranian shipping companies.
The EU now has just over two months to decide whether to appeal or re-instate sanctions on different legal grounds before the annulment decisions take effect.The sanctions were originally imposed in 2012.
The shipping companies on the sanctions list had previously been accused by the EU of being controlled or otherwise linked to Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL).
Hamburg-based Ocean Capital Administration is among them, plus IRISL subsidiaries including IRISL Maritime Training Institute, Kish Shipping Line Manning and IRISL Multimodal Transport.
The General Court ruled that sanctions against these companies should be annulled because sanctions on IRISL have been reinstated on new legal grounds.
Sanctions on Bank Tejarat were annulled on the grounds that the bank is now only minority-owned by the Iranian government, and so is no longer a legitimate target for trade sanctions. [26/01/15]
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