Smash hit

Mr al-Zayat is an imposing figure. He is 6ft tall and has acquired his nickname because of a large waistline.

He stays at the Four Seasons, Park Lane, when in London. He is a well-known figure among the wealthy Lebanese and Syrian communities in Knightsbridge and Kensington and has the reputation of being extremely generous.

Four years ago, Mr al-Zayat told a newspaper that he had lost large sums at the roulette table in London.

“This is the only sin I have," he said. "I have lost a lot of money. I know it's wrong to lose money like this, but if you've ever been to a casino you will understand what the atmosphere is like,” he said.

Mr al-Zayat, who is married with three children, built his fortune on a string of lucrative deals. Former business partners say that he acted as an intermediary in contracts for the supply of defence-related equipment in Cyprus and the Middle East.

He has been named in the US courts as a businessman who gave tens of thousands of dollars to a corrupt Republican congressman. Robert Ney was sentenced to 30 months in jail after telling the court that he accepted money from a number of sources, including gambling chips from Mr al-Zayat.

The Iranian Ministry of Defence sued Mr al-Zayat and his aircraft leasing business FAZ Aviation in London’s High Court.

The Iranians argued that since FAZ Aviation’s “principal place of business” at the time it began legal proceedings was London, a UK court should hear its claim for recovery of the money lost on the aircraft.

But on Wednesday Mr Justice Langley, sitting in the commercial court, dismissed the Iranian's case. He ruled that FAZ Aviation – which is incorporated in Cyprus and has its registered office in Nicosia – did not conduct sufficient business in London at the time of the claim. The UK courts, therefore, had no jurisdiction to intervene in this dispute, he said.

The Iranian Government’s solicitors at Norton Rose declined to comment on its client’s plans.

The decision is the second time that a British court has refused to help Iran recover its alleged losses. Earlier this year it asked the Serious Fraud Office to apply for a freezing order on Mr Al-Zayat’s assets as part of an Iranian criminal investigation into the Airbus deal.

The freezing order was initially granted but subsequently revoked after a judge discovered it had been requested by an Iranian military judge.

The SFO will appeal this at a hearing next Tuesday. If the appeal fails, Mr Al-Zayat will be able to sue the British Government for compensation over his treatment.

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