The compensation bill comes after a test case won by the Bank Mellat, which was banned from operating in Britain or Europe because Treasury officials thought it was linked to Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons programme.



The Treasury’s case collapsed earlier this summer after the Supreme Court backed the bank’s claim that the blacklisting was done on flawed evidence.




Later this month, the court is expected to order the Treasury to pay Mellat’s legal costs and to begin discussions over damages.




Lawyers for Mellat have told The Telegraph they intend to claim for £500 million for loss of business between 2009 and 2013.




The case has paved for the way for similar actions from scores of other Iranian firms, including banks and oil companies, which lawyers say could push the total compension bill to the £1 billion mark or beyond.

By The Telegraph

 

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