A UK law firm handling more than 60 complaints by Iranian nationals who have had their UK bank accounts closed allegedly because of their nationality has reported a continuation in such closures since Donald Trump assumed office.

Iranian nationals living legally in the UK often have to go to extra lengths when opening a bank account and many who already with one have complained about their accounts being abruptly closed. Some banks refuse to explain why, while others cite sanctions against Iran as the main reason.



Blackstone Solicitors represents a string of Iranians who have taken high street banks to court over allegations of racial discrimination. The firm said account closures have taken place despite the lifting of sanctions after the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers.



All nuclear-related sanctions imposed by the EU and the UN against Iran were lifted in January 2016 when it was announced that Tehran had fully complied with the terms of the landmark nuclear accord, known as the the joint comprehensive plan of action.



Ordinary citizens were exempted from the punitive measures even when sanctions were in place but the complex nature of the sanctions regime and overcompliance by banks means Iranians unrelated to the government are still being punished.



“In the past two or three months more people have come to us to instruct us to act on their behalf because of their bank account closures,” Rokhsareh Vahid, head of the Iran desk at Blackstone, told the Guardian. “In total we have more than 60 cases involving Iranians who have sued banks over racial discrimination.”

Vahid said her firm has secured compensation in most of those cases, often as the result of pre-trial settlements. “I only recall one case which was not successful,” she said. “A lot of such settlements include non-disclosure agreements, so we won’t be able to publicise them.”

An Iranian student in Greater Manchester represented by Blackstone received a five-figure compensation from RBS in July 2016. He had been an RBS customer for seven years. The Guardian is not publishing his name to protect his identity.



“Upon his arrival in the UK in 2008, our client opened a bank account at RBS. He maintained this account without any issues until he received a notice of closure in 2015,” Blackstone said. “RBS wrote to our client to advise him that his account would be closed in 60 days. These incidents happened before sanctions on Iran were partially lifted in January 2016.”



Blackstone was first contacted a week before the scheduled closure of the student’s account. “Immediately, we contacted RBS demanding that our client’s rights are recognised,” the firm said. “We proceeded to file a complaint against the bank and pursued it until our client recovered a total of £31,200 from RBS in July 2016.”



The payment included £15,000 compensation for emotional injury and £16,200 in respect of costs of the claim.



An RBS spokesperson said: “We are unable to comment on specific customers or decisions made in relation to individual accounts. However, in line with our legal and regulatory obligations, we do not close customers’ accounts because of their race and strongly refute any suggestion that we do so.”

Vahid said accounts are often closed when people receive money from Iran, usually by cash transfer or via a money broker. Despite the removal of sanctions, major European banks still do not handle Iranian payments, so ordinary Iranians, such as students, would have to bring their money in cash or through a money exchange, which may look suspicious to banks.



“Banks will inquire and when they find that the client has an Iranian passport or the source of money is from Iran, then they might face problems,” she said. “A lot of banks here have a strong relationship with the US and are wary of the remaining sanctions, that’s why a lot of Iranians unrelated to their government have had their accounts closed.”



In May 2016, a group of Iranians launched the Unjustly Unbanked campaign to end discrimination by UK banks against customers of Iranian origin.



PhD student Pooya Ghoddousi, one of its founders, has also had his account closed. “I received a letter from the bank telling me that my accounts and credit card will be closed in two months. After nine years of banking and an excellent credit score they didn’t even see the need to justify this act. I suddenly felt uprooted like a persona non grata,” he said.

“Something obviously needed to be done to raise awareness, increase the cost for the banks, and eventually stop the discriminatory effects of their careless de-risking practices.”

The situation is preventing Iran from benefiting from the nuclear agreement or capitalising on huge interest in foreign investment interest under President Hassan Rouhani. The Trump administration has attacked the deal, with the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, saying this week that the agreement has been a failure. The US, however, has not taken any steps to scrap the nuclear deal.



Sir Richard Dalton, a former British ambassador to Iran, warned in a 2016 report that the west, including the UK, risked breaching the deal if it continued to fail to give Iran proper access to the international financial system.



In February, the UN nuclear agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed in its first report on Iran since Trump’s victory that Tehran was complying with the nuclear agreement.

