The sanctions regime against Iran over its nuclear program and sponsorship of Jihadist terrorism is unfortunately unravelling at an alarming pace.
Part and parcel to that process is a disturbing development in which the Supreme Court in the United Kingdom ruled on the side of Bank Mellat in its suit against the British government.
Bank Mellat was recently listed by The Banker, as the fifth largest Shariah-compliant financial institution in the world. The bank was also placed under sanctions by multiple Western nations to cut off the flow of funds to Iran’s nuclear program and other nefarious activities.
The US Treasury Department has claimed that Bank Mellat has facilitated the financing and flow of funds associated with the country’s uranium enrichment program. Unfortunately, courts in the EU, in addition to the UK, have claimed a lack of evidence to support the sanctions and, thus, Bank Mellat is waging lawfare with a vengeance, suing the British government for $4 billion over the sanctions that had been imposed by the UK against Bank Mellat.
The Treasury Department specifically designated Bank Mellat among Iranian institutions on which it imposed sanctions:
http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/irgc_ifsr.pdf
Bank Mellat remains under US sanctions, which theoretically means that any institution or entity that does business with Bank Mellat could be denied access to the US financial system. In practice, however, such measures have rarely been taken.
Now the Iranians are going on the offensive by suing the UK government. Not only does this put the UK government on the defensive, but also will serve as a warning for other governments that the Iranians will use their immense oil wealth and the West’s own legal system against us.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-britain-bankmellat-20140217,0,3572395.story
