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Wary of lifting Iran sanctions, EU overrides own courts

Although some Iran sanctions have been officially declared to be placed in manifest error in EU courts, it appears they will stay in place.
Iranian military ships frigate "Alvand" (R) and light replenishment ship "Bushehr" are seen docked for refueling on May 6, 2014 in Port Sudan, 250 kilometres (155 miles) across the Red Sea from Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia. Sudan's army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad said the warships, one of them a navy supply ship, had arrived in Port Sudan, where civilians could tour the vessels during their port call. Naval vessels from Iran have periodically stopped in Port Sudan for what Khartoum describes as nor

Despite scores of Iranian individuals and companies successfully proving in European courts that the sanctions placed upon them are illegal under EU law, many remain listed, as the EU executive effectively overrides the decisions of its own courts.

Since the start of 2012, the European Union, once Iran’s biggest trading partner, has imposed stringent sanctions on entities involved in the Islamic Republic’s oil and banking sectors on the basis that they are supporters or financiers of nuclear proliferation. Sanctions mean that companies’ assets held in European banks are frozen; and travel bans are imposed on listed individuals.

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