Brussels, 25/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 25 March, the General Court of the EU rejected the appeal by the Central Bank of Iran against the freezing of its assets (case T-563/12) decided upon by the Council of the EU with effect from October 2012 on the grounds that the bank was “involved in activities aiming to get round the sanctions” against the Iranian government and provides Tehran with “financial support”.
As in an earlier judgement (T-262/12 of 18 September 2014), the General Court found that the first line of argument (involvement in activities aiming to get round the sanctions) was insufficient to keep in place the freezing of assets, as the Council was not referring to any identifiable operation, or to any specific assistance which could have helped the bank to understand the reasons for maintaining the sanctions. On the other hand, regarding the second issue (financial support to the Iranian government), the General Court concluded that the wording was specific enough to allow the bank to understand that the Council was referring to the financial services it provided, in its capacity as Central Bank of Iran, to the Iranian government, without any need to clarify the financial services and financial resources or facilities provided. Ultimately, the General Court took the view that the Council had rightly considered that, on the grounds of its functions and powers, the Central Bank of Iran provides the Iranian government with financial services and substantial financial and logistical support which is likely to allow it to pursue nuclear proliferation.
The General Court therefore upholds the continuation of the freezing of the bank's funds. (Francesco Gariazzo)