The UK and Iran put their legal arguments about the payment to a high court hearing last week and a ruling is expected soon. One source said the records would show there had been some heated exchanges between the Foreign Office and the MoD about the debt. It was also argued the money could be given to Iran by the UK in a way that avoids current EU sanctions, a case UK government lawyers do not accept. The dispute is over a 1970s defence deal between the Iranian defence ministry and a now near-defunct UK government defence trading service, International Military Services. Ratcliffe said the case “matters to us since we have been told explicitly that we are linked to this court case.

Source: The Guardian May 28, 2019 15:45 UTC