U.S. Federal Court Rejects Request to Dismiss Reza Zarrab's Case

A federal judge in the United States has rejected requests to halt the trial and dismiss the case against Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish businessman arrested in the U.S. on charges of violating sanctions against Tehran. The court's refusal means that the trial of this businessman will continue in the United States. At the beginning of Mr. Zarrab's trial, in mid-October, his lawyers had requested that the case be dismissed. Paul Clement, one of Zarrab's lawyers, argued that this 33-year-old businessman 'as a foreigner residing in Turkey, has not violated U.S. criminal law... and is not subject to U.S. jurisdiction.' Zarrab is accused of planning to circumvent sanctions against Iran, deceiving American banks, and laundering money by assisting Iranian companies in transferring funds through U.S. institutions. His legal team argues that the laws regarding circumventing or violating Iran's sanctions, which are the basis of the charges, do not apply to non-American individuals living outside the U.S. Judge Richard Berman of the federal court in New York stated in rejecting the request to dismiss the case that the indictment contains the necessary elements and that dismissal only applies in 'extraordinary' circumstances; 'in very, very limited cases that only involve fundamental rights.' Zarrab's trial in the U.S. occurs amid indications that Ankara officials are closely monitoring it. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated earlier in October that he raised the issue of Zarrab during a meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. Erdogan suggested that Zarrab's case has political dimensions. The Turkish President remarked that 'the U.S. Department of Justice has sent the case to a court where the judge and prosecutor were previously guests of FETO (the movement associated with Gulen). In other words, the U.S. Department of Justice has handed Zarrab's case to those who were hosted by FETO.' Ankara considers Fethullah Gulen to be the mastermind behind the failed coup in July and has labeled the movement arising from his ideas as 'terrorist.' Zarrab's lawyers claim that this case and the trial of someone like him in the U.S. is 'unprecedented.' According to the New York Times, the prosecutor's office for Zarrab's case stated that what is unprecedented is 'the scope, complexities, and capabilities of the accused in carrying out his illegal actions; and his capacities for communicating with officials in both the Iranian and Turkish governments, as well as banks, to plan and execute these actions.' The Wall Street Journal reported that if the charges against this Iranian-Turkish businessman are proven, he could face up to 75 years in prison, which effectively means life imprisonment.