The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) says its lawyers in Italy have successfully blocked a US attempt to seize Iranian assets in the European country to pay for false claims related to terrorism, reports Pars Today.
According to Press TV, the CBI, also known as Bank Markazi, said in a Wednesday statement that an Italian appeal court had dismissed renewed claims brought by American plaintiffs to seize CBI assets in Italy to pay for damages suffered over September 11, 2001 attacks, a charge that Iran roundly rejects as politically motivated.
The statement said that claimants had submitted several complaints to the Italian courts beginning in June 2018 to have nearly $6 billion worth of CBI assets confiscated.
It said a ruling by a lower Italian court on April 17, 2019 had dismissed a second claim launched by the plaintiffs, known as Havlish et al., in the Italian judiciary system over the case.
“That verdict was contested by the claimants in the Havlish case and in the appeal phase the court did not accept the request of the claimants on Friday January 10, 2020,” it said, adding that the ruling was “another victory” in the case for Bank Markazi.
The bank did not elaborate on litigation costs but said it had benefited from the services of skilled Italian barristers.