Iran firm wins compensation from EU in sanctions case

A European court has ordered that an Iranian firm be paid compensation for the inclusion of its name on the anti-Iran sanctions list.

The European General Court issued its verdict with regard to the legal case of the Iranian company, Safa Nicu Sepahan, on Tuesday, saying the firm should be paid 50,000 euros in compensation for being unwarrantedly included on the European Union’s anti-Iran sanctions list.

This is while the litigant firm had demanded seven million euros in indemnity.

Safa Nicu Sepahan was put on the sanctions list in 2011 for what was claimed to be providing equipment for Iran’s Fordow nuclear site.

The court dismissed the allegations against the Iranian company and ruled that there is no evidence to prove the charges.

This is the first time that a European court has ordered the payment of redress to an Iranian firm in a legal case related to Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

Iran has been hit by sanctions from the EU and the US over unsubstantiated allegation that its nuclear activities are geared to military purposes.

Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.