June 25, 2021
A Luxembourg court has decided that Iranian funds frozen in Luxembourg cannot be transferred outside the country without approval by authorities in the grand duchy. Neither Iran nor the United States can yet get their hands on the money.
Iran’s Central Bank in 2018 filed a complaint against Clearstream, wanting to recover $4.9 billion in frozen assets plus interest. A group of 152 individuals victims of the 9/11 terror attacks or their families had claimed compensation in 2016 in an ongoing legal battle between the US and Iran.
A Luxembourg court ruled in 2019 that the US judgment could not be enforced in Luxembourg, but the matter was still being discussed in the court’s second chamber.
The Luxembourg lawyers for Iran’s Central Bank said the courts have now agreed that funds cannot be transferred outside the country without an exequatur decision by authorities in the grand duchy.
Had the courts decided otherwise, it could have been easier for US lawyers to claim the money.
In April 2020, a Luxembourg court ruled that $1.6 billion held by Clearstream would not be transferred to 9/11 victims, saying the seizure demand was inadmissible under Luxembourg law. However, Iran could also not claim the money back as legal procedures were and still are ongoing, pending appeals.
