Unlawful. Such was the UK Supreme Court’s verdict on sanctions against Iran’s Bank Mellat this June. And by ruling the UK Treasury’s actions illegal, the court hinted at a deep vulnerability within the international sanctions regime against Iran — such restrictions may not be compatible with Western respect for justice. “The Supreme Court has really broken the back of the sanctions for the UK and EU,” claimed Sarosh Zaiwalla, senior partner at Zaiwalla & Co Solicitors, the litigators in Bank Mellat’s case. The EU General Court — the Union’s second highest court — struck down similar European-level restrictions on the bank earlier this year. The reasons the UK court gave were particularly problematic for those hoping to impose further sanctions on Iranian interests — or even keep existing ones in place. Not only did the court say that singling Bank Mellat out was arbitrary and unjustified, it crucially ruled that
Ben is a Beirut based investigative journalist. He served as Executive's resident data geek from 2013 to 2014, and as managing editor from 2014 to 2015.
