British MP wins $436,000 in libel case against Iranian state channel Press TV

British Member of Parliament Nadhim Zahawi won a $436,000 (£338,000) payout after winning a libel case against Iranian state television channel Press TV.

The Conservative candidate, who is of Kurdish background born in Iraq, was falsely accused by the channel of facilitating the trade in oil between ISIS and Israel, British media reported.

After losing the case, Press TV was ordered to pay Zahawi £200,000 in damages and over £138,000 in costs after the judge described the defamatory allegations as “exceptionally grave.”

Zahawi, who was a leading member of the foreign affairs select committee, said that the channel’s post was made after he criticized Iran of “malign influence.”

Zahawi said in a statement: “The ludicrous allegation that I, while a Member of Parliament, had firstly betrayed all of my deepest held moral principles, and secondly had somehow managed to avoid international security services, and the law, to personally trade oil with Daesh was of course completely untrue.”