After a top European court rejected a bid by an Iranian bank to stop the EU freezing its assets, Iran's minister of economy says the move was based on unfounded claims, Press TV reported.
The Luxembourg-based Court of First Instance has "made claims about Iran's banking activities including Melli Bank, but provided no evidence to prove their accusations," Iranian Minister of Economy Shamseddin Hosseini said Saturday.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Luxembourg-based court said "Freezing of the funds of entities owned or controlled by an entity engaging in nuclear proliferation is necessary and appropriate in order to ensure the effectiveness of the measures adopted."
The European Union's second highest court dismissed Iran's Melli Bank request to void the freeze, saying it "dismisses the action and upholds the fund-freezing decision."
The Iranian minister said the decision was "unfair" and a "continuation of the politically-motivated" moves against the Islamic Republic, IRNA reported.
In June 2008, the European Union approved sanctions against Iran which comprised of the asset freeze of the country's biggest bank, Bank Melli Iran.
The EU move came as part of the process of implementing a series of UN sanctions imposed against Iran over its uranium enrichment activities.
The Iranian official said the decision to freeze the assets comes while Melli Bank PLC is a different entity from Bank Melli Iran (BMI) and therefore the UN sanctions do not apply to this foreign entity.
Melli Bank -- based in the UK -- is owned by Bank Melli Iran (BMI), an Iranian bank controlled by the Iranian government.
The European court maintains that the connection between the two entities is a valid reason for applying UN sanctions against the UK-based bank.
...