Iran and other so-called "rogue states" are entitled to the co-operation of the British courts when pursuing the assets of alleged foreign criminals, a High Court judge ruled today.

The Court turned down an appeal by Fouad al-Zayat — a billionaire businessman and notorious gambler known as “The Fat Man” — who was trying to overturn a freezing order placed on his assets in the UK.

The order was granted after a request from the Iranian Government, which claims that Mr al-Zayat defrauded it of £60 million in an aircraft deal gone sour.

Mr al-Zayat has appealed several times to have his funds released before today’s decision at the Old Bailey in London.

Mr Justice Gross, refusing the Syrian-born businessman’s appeal, said: “Even rogue states, so-called, may have good claims against alleged rogues.

“This country has an important public interest in not becoming a safe haven for the proceeds of international crime."

The judge added that that should not be limited to states whose legal systems are beyond reproach.

The decision comes just weeks after the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Iranian Government in a separate case concerning a set of valuable antiquities. Iran successfully sued London-based Barakat Galleries for the return of a collection of 5,000-year-old relics that a judge agreed belonged to the Iranians.

Mr al-Zayat, 65, is alleged to have been paid $118 million (£60 million) in a deal to supply senior members of the Tehran regime with an Airbus jet owned by the Sultan of Brunei. Mr al-Zayat has been accused in earlier court hearings of failing to deliver the aircraft.

A military judge in Iran launched an investigation into the dispute and asked the Home Office to freeze Mr al-Zayat's assets. At a hearing last December, Lord Brennan, QC, appearing for Mr al-Zayat, said that in freezing his client’s assets, British authorities had “shut their eyes” to the realities of Iran’s government. Lord Brennan cited its poor human rights record, the fact that it was subject to sanctions and allegations that it sponsored attacks on British troops.

But today Mr Justice Gross said he had not lost sight of concerns about human rights abuses in Iran but that the freezing order should remain in place.

The judge said that discussions over Iranian human rights did not address what had happened to the $118 million allegedly received by Mr al-Zayat. He said: “The receipt of the monies and the failure to supply the Airbus are facts crying out for explanation,” he said.

Jason McCue, Mr al-Zayat’s solicitor, has previously criticised the British court system for allowing the Iranian Government to settle what he said are costly and needless disputes.

“The Iranians are working flat out to develop nuclear weapons and British taxpayers' are footing the bill for court time to decide whether we should help them boost their coffers,” he said.

The Iranian Government has brought separate legal action against Mr al-Zayat in Switzerland and Cyprus. He is not facing trial in Britain and will not be extradited to Iran, although prosecutors there have indicated they may try him in absentia.

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