EU court rules against Iranian bank sanctions

A European Union (EU) court has ruled against EU sanctions imposed on Iran's Bank Saderat, media reports said Wednesday.

Bank Saderat is one of the leading banks in Iran, Xinhua news agency quoted reports as saying.

The court ruling said the EU had no sufficient evidence that the Iranian bank was involved in the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear programme.

The European bloc, which imposed the sanctions against the Iranian bank in July 2010, has two months to appeal.

The EU has adopted a series of sanctions against Iranian nationals and entities including oil, finance and insurance companies said to be involved in or supporting Iran's nuclear activities.

The West has accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian nuclear programme, a charge Tehran has denied.