Judgment_paragraph 53 · Central Bank of Iran v Council of the European Union (C-266/15 P)

53It should be pointed out that, in order to ascertain whether the principle of proportionality had been infringed, in paragraph 117 of the judgment under appeal the General Court took into consideration the public-interest objective pursued by the acts at issue. In paragraph 118 of that judgment, it acknowledged that those acts were causing harm to Central Bank of Iran, in that they were detrimental to its rights of property and to its reputation. However, in paragraph 119 of that judgment, the General Court took into account the objective of maintaining international peace and security, while observing that the acts at issue related to only part of Central Bank of Iran’s assets, that there were means of releasing funds in certain circumstances and that it was not alleged by the Council that the bank was itself involved in nuclear proliferation.