European insurance companies free to extend services to Iranian tankers

European insurance companies free to extend services to Iranian tankers

Tehran, Oct 16, IRNA – Lifting the sanctions since January provided the European insurance firms with free hand to extend insurance services to Iranian oil tankers, Deputy Minister of Petroleum for International Affairs and Trading Amir-Hossein Zamaninia said on Sunday.

Zamaninia said that NITC challenged the arbitrary sanctions from the beginning, saying that the sanctions violated the free trade law envisaged by the international conventions and that the company has been successful to prove that the sanctions had no legal ground.

The NITC lodged complaint with the European Court of Justice invoking the Statute of the European Union Council in 2012 under number 635 to challenge the sanctions.

The EU Court ruling on July 3, 2014, was in favor of the NITC and the European Union Council did not appeal to the court. However, on February 12, 2015, it kept the NITC in the list of EU sanctions on new grounds and as per the 2015/236 decision.

The NITC again on April 24, 2015, lodged complaint against the European Council under reference No. 2015/236 and on September 14, 2016, the EU court gave a verdict against the NITC. So, the company has decided to appeal to the EU court by end of November.

The new ruling has no impact on the NITC status because based on the JCPOA, the name of the NITC has been removed from the executive regulations of the EU sanctions on Iran.

Based on general legal principles, no court is entitled to enforce sanctions after January 2016 and the United Nations Resolution 2231-2015.

As per the UN Resolution 2231, the Security Council endorsed the July 14, 2015 agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme, paving the way for the lifting of United Nations sanctions on Iran.

 

SOURCE : IRNA

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