New Sanctions on NITC Built on Void Excuses

(FNA)- The new sanctions on the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) have been imposed based on void and baseless excuses and they can be removed by legal measures, an informed Iranian source said on Saturday.

"New sanctions have been imposed on the NITC based on void complaints by the EU, but these sanctions can also be removed with legal follow ups," the source told FNA.

During a meeting in Brussels on Thursday 12 February, members of the European Union decided to sanction again the NITC which is transporting oil around the globe.

Asked if the sanctions are the same as those annulled in October, the source said, "The old sanctions were completely annulled after the legal consultations of the NITC and therefore, the sanctions cannot be the old ones."

Meantime, the source said that the new sanctions have not yet been implemented and there is a possibility for legal blocking of the move.

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

The rulings in respect to businessman Babak Zanjani's 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 came into effect.

After the EU announcement, Britain also ended asset freeze on five Iranian entities and a tradesman after the EU General Court issued rulings on the annulment of sanctions against Iran.

In mid-August, Iran called on the European countries to comply with the rulings of the EU courts on the annulment of the sanctions against Tehran.

"The EU's executive and administrative bodies should respect the European court rulings and undertake to comply and exercise the verdicts," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham told reporters at the time.

In July, the General Court of the European Union (7th chamber, extended composition) annulled the listing of the National Iranian Tanker Company on the European Union's targeted sanctions relating to Iran.

That was one in a series of annulments by the European court of the designations of Iranian individuals and companies from the EU sanctions list. Yet, the EU still shrugs off putting the rulings into effect.