The National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) said it will re-appeal a recent decision by the European Union to re-include the company on its sanctions list.
"The NITC will take legal action to prove the illegality of the re-imposition of sanctions on this company and will follow up on damages incurred by sanctions with international bodies," Ali Akbar Safaei, managing director of NITC, was quoted by ILNA as saying.
He said that, by re-imposing sanctions on NITC, the western governments have deprived the international marine transportation industry of the services provided by the company, especially in the Persian Gulf region where a massive load of global shipping takes place.
“The NITC has always submitted solid evidence to international bodies to prove the legality of its activities and also the political nature of sanctions imposed by the western governments. It will continue with such defense until proven innocent,” said Safaei.
European Union governments agreed last Thursday to put the NITC, Iran's biggest tanker company, back on a list of sanctioned firms.
The EU's second-highest court ruled last July there were no grounds to blacklist the NITC after the company contested the designation, but the EU said it would seek legal means to keep the company on the list of companies under asset freezes.
NITC announced in October that EU sanctions against it had been annulled. It is still blacklisted by the United States.
Iran is engaged in nuclear talks with world powers as it tries to strike a final deal to lift the sanctions that have halved its oil exports to just over 1 million barrels per day since 2012.
