A Dutch court Wednesday said a government decision to ban people of Iranian descent from studying nuclear technology in the Netherlands was discriminatory.

The ban, adopted in 2008 and rooted in a UN Security Council resolution of December 2006, "is in conflict with the (domestic) prohibition of discrimination", a district court in The Hague ruled.
 

There was "no objective and reasonable justification" for drawing such distinctions based on nationality, it added.
 

The court upheld a challenge by a group including students and a nuclear science professor against the prohibition. Many of them have dual Iranian and Dutch citizenship.
 

The government in 2008 banned anyone with Iranian nationality access to nuclear facilities and to specialised nuclear studies.

UN measure
The measure was adopted after a Security Council resolution called "upon all states to exercise vigilance and prevent specialised teaching or training of Iranian nationals, within their territories or by their nationals, of disciplines which would contribute to Iran's proliferation sensitive nuclear activities and development of nuclear weapons delivery systems."
 

According to the court, the council left it to member states to adopt measures that were not in conflict with their own laws.
 

"Member states were given room to manoeuvre," said the ruling. "They were not compelled to make distinctions on the basis of nationality that are not necessary and not fair."
 

Some countries, including the United States, suspect Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its nuclear programme is aimed at producing energy to serve a growing population.
 

Source: AFP