EU court annuls Iran NITC sanctions

The court rejected the EU’s “claims, produced as reasons” for linking NITC’s oil and gas activities to nuclear program funding.

The EU Council had committed a “manifest error” in its assessment of NITC, the court said, adding that the EU Council had no evidence to support its allegations leveled against the Iranian company in 2012.

“The applicant, National Iranian Tanker Company, is an Iranian company dedicated to the transport of cargoes of crude oil and gas. It operates one of the largest fleets in the world of double-hulled tankers,” it added.

The court also ordered the EU Council to “bear its own costs and to pay the costs of” NITC.

At the beginning of 2012, the US and EU imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.

On October 15, 2012, the EU foreign ministers reached an agreement on another round of sanctions against Iran.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China -- plus Germany reached an interim deal in November 2013. Under the six-month deal, which took effect on January 20, sanctions against Iran were partially suspended while Iran scaled back its nuclear energy program.

Hopes are rising for more sanctions relief as Iran and the six countries have started drafting the text of a comprehensive agreement on Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
/SR