EU court lifts series of nuclear sanctions on Iran

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled there was not sufficient evidence to justify the sanctions imposed by the 28-nation bloc on eight Iranian banks and companies.

The decision is a blow to Western efforts to tighten the sanctions regime, which aims to pressure Iran over its atomic activities.

The West maintains Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons but Tehran insists its programme is for civilian purposes.

The court said the sanctions will stay in place for at least two months pending any appeal.

Meanwhile, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said she will meet Iran’s newly appointed negotiator on the nuclear programme later this month.

A spokesman said Catherine Ashton called Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif and they agreed to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Iran’s new president Hasan Rouhani has confirmed that Mr Zarif – a Western-educated diplomat – will lead nuclear talks with world powers, marking a shift away from the often more hawkish security officials who previously set the negotiation strategy.

Baroness Ashton is part of the negotiations between the permanent UN Security Council members and Germany with Iran on the nuclear programme.

The EU is one of Iran’s most important trading partners, but since 2010 the bloc has imposed asset freezes and travel bans on top of existing UN sanctions, targeting Iranian citizens and companies believed to be linked to the nuclear programme.

The EU then significantly escalated the nuclear-related sanctions by 2012 to include an oil import embargo.

Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for energy production and medical research. Years of negotiations between the five permanent United Nations Security Council members and Germany with Iran have failed to make much headway.

Ms Ashton said: “I stand ready with my colleagues to get the talks moving,” adding she hopes, “that when we meet in New York we will have the opportunity to set dates (for the formal talks) there”.

While it is assumed that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will have the last word on the nuclear issue, Mr Rouhani was elected on the promise of getting rid of the international sanctions that are crippling Iran’s economy.

Analysts view the appointment of Mr Zarif to lead the nuclear negotiations as a sign that the new administration might be more willing to compromise.

Meanwhile, the EU court voided the freezing of assets held in the EU by Post Bank Iran, Iran Insurance Company, Good Luck Shipping and Export Development Bank of Iran. It found that the bloc’s governments could not “properly establish that they had provided support for nuclear proliferation”.

The court has also annulled sanctions imposed on Bank Refah Kargaran, Persia International Bank, a businessman identified only as Mr Bateni and Iranian Offshore Engineering & Construction, citing insufficient evidence.

However, the court dismissed a similar lawsuit by the country’s important Bank Melli Iran because the institute continued to pay scholarships for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran and upheld sanctions against the European-Iranian trade bank.