Iran has sold a seized US oil cargo to fund compensation for 771 Iranian patients suffering from Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), a rare genetic condition that leaves the skin extremely fragile and vulnerable to injury.

Judge Majid Hosseinzadeh, head of Branch 55 of Tehran’s Legal Court of International Relations, said the oil cargo was seized in the Persian Gulf in 2023, Press TV reports.

The case was brought by 771 Iranian EB patients, with the support of EB Home, a nationwide non-governmental organization (NGO) representing people affected by the condition, against the US government and its officials.

The plaintiffs sought compensation for material, moral and punitive damages they said resulted from US sanctions and restrictions that affected access to specialized medical dressings and pharmaceutical supplies.

Hosseinzadeh said the court conducted a comprehensive review of the case before issuing a final verdict. After the legal procedures were completed, the seized cargo was unloaded and the tanker was released, while proceeds from the oil sale were deposited into a Judiciary account.

According to the judge, the court reviewed extensive documentation from Iranian and international organizations, forensic medicine authorities and NGOs to assess the alleged impact of US sanctions on patients’ access to medicines and medical supplies.

Hosseinzadeh said the proceedings established that US Treasury sanctions and restrictions on financial transactions had prevented pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers of specialized dressings from supplying Iran.

The Tehran court described the measures as a violation of patients’ right to healthcare and issued a more than 100-page ruling finding the US government’s actions “unlawful and inhumane.”

The case dates back to a July 2024 ruling in which the Tehran court ordered the US government and its officials to pay approximately $7 billion in damages over sanctions that the court said had harmed Iranian EB patients, also known as “butterfly patients.”

The court specifically ordered $6.785 billion in material, moral and punitive damages for the plaintiffs.