Bank Mellat of Iran on Wednesday won a preliminary court ruling against sanctions imposed by the British government.

The government has accused the privately owned bank of providing financial services to companies involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programs. The Treasury acted in October to forbid any U.K. financial companies from doing business with the bank.

High Court Justice John Mitting agreed with the bank's argument that it was entitled to information about allegations against it. The judge granted permission for the government to appeal the ruling.

Lawyers for the bank argued that a provision on fair hearings in the European Convention on Human Rights entitled the bank to details of the allegations against it.

The government contended that the article did not apply because the order was directed not at the bank but at other financial institutions.

Mitting ruled that the bank was effectively the target of the order, and thus the Convention applied.

Mitting noted a decision by the House of Lords last year that an alleged terror suspect whose liberty had been curtailed was entitled to information about the allegation against him.