A Swiss court reportedly ordered an Israeli oil company to pay $1.1 billion to Iran over a failed joint venture, but Israel said Thursday that its laws prohibit sending funds to "an enemy."
"Without referring to the matter at hand, we'll note that according to the Trading with the Enemy Act it is forbidden to transfer money to the enemy, including the Iranian national oil company," the Finance Ministry said in a statement, according to Haaretz.
On Wednesday, Iranian state news agency IRNA said an "informed source" at Iran's Presidential Center for Legal Affairs provided the information about the court ruling, which found Israel's Trans-Asian Oil (TAO) liable to pay $1.1 billion to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), reports AFP.
The court said that NIOC signed an agreement with Israel's TAO in 1968 to send Iranian oil to Israel across the Red Sea through a jointly owned pipeline. But after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which saw Iran shift from Israel's ally to enemy, Israel nationalized the pipeline and expropriated Tehran's assets.
Iran then launched three arbitration lawsuits in Swiss and French courts to collect the estimated billions of dollars it lost from Israel's continued operation of the pipeline, and Iranian assets that were taken.
IRNA said the latest ruling relates to $450 million worth of crude oil sent to Israel before the partnership ended, which was never paid for, according to Haaretz.
The Swiss court ordered TAO to pay $500 million in 1989, but payment was deferred pending disputes over interest claims.
The latest ruling was a follow-up to that case, and TAO was ordered to pay the $1.1 billion plus $7 million in legal fees, according to IRNA's source. The court also allowed Tehran to file a $7 billion arbitration claim against Israel.
