EU court rejects Bank Tejarat’s challenge to its re-listing

The General Court of the EU has dismissed another challenge to an EU decision to re-list an Iranian entity that won its challenge to its original sanctions designation. A link to the judgment is here. The Court regularly now upholds decisions to re-list entities on the revised basis that they provide support for the Government of Iran, in circumstances in which the EU could not sustain the original reasons given for their inclusion (usually on the grounds that they support Iran’s nuclear programme).

Bank Tejarat’s original listing was annulled in January 2015 (see previous blog) then it was re-listed in April 2015 (blog here). The General Court has said its re-listing was not unlawful essentially because it was based (inter alia) on the fact that it supports the Iranian Government by offering financial resources and services for oil and gas development projects which is a significant source of Government funding.