Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:28:42 GMT

After Iran's Bank Mellat reportedly won a preliminary court case against British sanctions, an Iranian parliamentarian says the move was an outcome of Tehran's pressure on London.

"After Iran's Parliament (Majlis) exerted pressure on Britain, London removed sanctions on Bank Mellat," Hossein Ebrahimi, the head of Majlis committee on foreign relations, told Mehr News Agency on Monday.

He said the Iranian lawmakers were working on a bill that calls on the government to reconsider relations with Britain following London's interference in Tehran's internal affairs, adding, "Britain's withdrawal of sanctions can be regarded as a positive move."

"This shows that parliamentary pressure will play an influential role."

In October, the British Treasury moved to forbid any financial company within the UK to do business with Bank Mellat over its alleged connections with Tehran's nuclear program.

In recent months, the Iranian bank has been fighting to overturn the Treasury ruling and finally made a breakthrough on Thursday when High Court Justice John Mitting ruled against the imposition of British penalties on the bank.

According to the High Court, under the European Convention on Human Rights, Bank Mellat is entitled to information about allegations against it.

The Iranian government has repeatedly accused Britain and a number of other Western states of inciting the post-election unrest in the country.

To pressure Tehran over its nuclear program, Western powers have imposed unilateral sanctions on a number of Iranian-owned banks, namely Melli, Saderat, and Sepah, and have demanded that world financial institutions follow suit.

Ebrahimi warned that Iran is resolute to reduce ties with UK to a minimum level should it refrains to "correct its behavior."

The parliamentarian expressed hope that Britain "will modify its policies on Iran to prevent Iran from making a special decision about relations with the country."

SF/AKM