Iran opposes ruling of UK court on Chieftain tanks
Iran's Ambassador in London Hamid Baeidinejad said on Friday that Islamic Republic of Iran is opposed to the British court's ruling that the UK does not have to pay at least £20m interest on the £387m it owes to Iran over the cancelled sale of Chieftain tanks in the 1970s.
He also reiterated in a twitter that Iran will adopt necessary legal actions against the ruling.
"The ruling will have no impact on the British company's obligation to pay the total sum of several hundreds of pounds of debts as well as its interests over the past 30 years," he said.
A High Court in London ruled on Friday that the UK does not have to pay the sum that Iran believes has accrued on £387 million owed to Tehran over the failed delivery of more than 1,500 Chieftain tanks and armored vehicles based on contracts signed as of 1971.
The case involves a payment of £650 million made by Iran in the 1970s to buy 1,500 Chieftain tanks from Britain and repair 250 more.
The deal was blocked after the 1979 Iranian Revolution deposed the Western-backed Shah.
Britain kept the paid portion of the contract.
However, western media allegedly claimed that Iran has made payment of the debt as scapegoat for the release of the Iranian-British national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who is in jail in Iran over security charges.
Baeidinejad commented on the issue, saying that certain British media outlets create the impression that payment of the debt to Iran is linked to a behind-the-scene deal to free Zaghari from prison.
The idea is completely wrong and developing a good understanding about the course of the case will clearly reveal that the two cases are totally irrelevant, he said.
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