Britain annuls sanctions on Iranian entities, businessman

The announcement came after the General Court of the European Union annulled the sanctions against Iranian businessman and five firms, namely, Sorinet Commercial Trust (SCT), Sharif University of Technology, National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), Moallem Insurance Company (MIC) and Sina Bank.

The rulings in respect to the businessman, Sorinet Commercial Trust, Sharif University of Technology, and the NITC were passed on July 3, 2014.

The verdict regarding Moallem Insurance Company was handed down on July 10, 2014, while the decision on Sina Bank was issued on June 4, 2014.

Since the judgments were not appealed within the designated two months, they have now come into effect.

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, EU foreign ministers reached an agreement on another round of sanctions against Iran.

The bans were imposed under the pretext of potential deviation toward non-civilian purposes in Iran’s nuclear energy program. Iran has repeatedly denied the Western allegations against its nuclear energy program.