Bank Mellat: $4 Billion Compensation from Britain to be Paid Next June

The CEO of Bank Mellat of Iran claimed that the UK Supreme Court ruled in favor of the bank regarding its $4 billion compensation request from the UK Treasury, stating that the compensation is set to be paid by next June. Ali Rastgar said in an interview with ILNA on Monday, March 8, that the UK Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bank Mellat due to the 'loss of business opportunities' during the imposition of sanctions, and that this matter is currently in its final stages. He emphasized that 'it has been decided that the $4 billion compensation will be paid to Bank Mellat by June.' The UK Treasury or the Supreme Court has not yet responded to the CEO's claims. In 2009, the UK Treasury blacklisted Bank Mellat for allegedly financing Iran's nuclear program. Bank Mellat denied these allegations and filed a lawsuit in the UK Supreme Court to lift the sanctions, which the court eventually did on June 19, 2013. Following that, Iranian media, including the state news agency IRNA, reported that Bank Mellat had requested approximately $4 billion in compensation from the UK Treasury. The European Court of Justice also ruled on February 17 this year that Bank Mellat's assets should not have been seized since 2010 and rejected the European Council's appeal in this regard. As a result of EU sanctions, Bank Mellat had no access to SWIFT services for four years, but this access has reportedly been restored since February 14 this year. In another part of his remarks, the CEO of Bank Mellat announced that '860 million dollars' from Shell's debt to Iran has been 'deposited' into this bank's account. Shell had previously participated in the development of Iran's oil fields, such as the Soroush and Nowruz oil field development projects, before the increase in international sanctions. Shell's debt to Iran had exceeded $2.16 billion by the end of 2014, which the company could not repay due to banking restrictions stemming from international economic sanctions against Iran. On Wednesday, July 24, Shell officially confirmed for the first time that it had negotiated with Iranian oil ministry officials in Tehran regarding investment opportunities in the oil and gas sector after the lifting of sanctions. In this context, the European Supreme Court rejected the request to continue the seizure of Bank Mellat's assets.