Reactions to the News of the Seizure of the National Iranian Oil Company Building in the Netherlands

A few months after the seizure of the National Iranian Oil Company's building in London due to part of the compensation in the Kowsar case, Iranian media have reported that another oil company building has been seized, this time in the Netherlands, for the same case. Fars News Agency, Shargh Newspaper, and several other Iranian media outlets recently reported that a Dutch court has finally ruled in November of this year for the final seizure of the National Iranian Oil Company's building in Rotterdam. This news was initially published on Friday, January 18, on several accounts on the social media platform X, including an account attributed to Babak Zanjani, and was later reflected in the media. Investigations by Radio Farda show that the Rotterdam regional court ruled on February 28 last year that the auction and sale of this building to Heuvel Real Estate Company was legal. Subsequently, on November 9 of this year, Iran's objection was officially rejected in the Rotterdam court. This is the second building of the National Iranian Oil Company that has been seized following a lawsuit by Crescent Company and the acceptance of this company's compensation request by the International Arbitration Court. How did Iran lose the 'National Oil Company House' in London? The Crescent contract was an agreement made in 2001 between the Islamic Republic and the Emirati Crescent Company, but Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government unilaterally terminated the contract, claiming 'undervaluation.' Following a lawsuit by the Emirati company to the International Arbitration Court, this court condemned Iran to pay $2.43 billion in damages in October 2021. The Crescent case, in addition to significant economic losses, has become a topic of political disputes in Iran in recent years and was a constant feature in the recent presidential election debates. In the past two days, several political figures and social media users have attributed the multi-billion dollar damages in this case to either Saeed Jalili or Bijan Zanganeh. Malek Shariati Niasar, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly close to the 'Steadfast Front,' wrote on social media that the reason for this damaging case was the 'signature of Mohammad Khatami,' the then president, 'the facilitation by Bijan Zanganeh,' the then oil minister, and the support of Hassan Rouhani. The Faraz website also pointed the finger at Saeed Jalili, the then secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, stating that he told Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that terminating this contract would not cause 'significant damage to us.' Hedayatollah Khademi, a former member of parliament and former oil manager, also wrote on social media that both factions are like two blades of scissors harming the country in this case and that 'Crescent is taking advantage of it.' Several social media users have also referred to statements made during the presidential election debates. In those televised debates, there were several verbal clashes between Saeed Jalili and Mostafa Pourmohammadi regarding the Crescent case, and Bijan Zanganeh sent a letter to the Tehran prosecutor, calling Jalili's statements slanderous. On the other hand, some users have also published a video that was released during the election debates in July of this year by media close to the Revolutionary Guards, titled 'Leech.' Another group of social media users has stated that this significant damage to Iranian assets occurred due to conflicts between political figures and factions aiming for personal gain or to harm rivals.