The US federal court has put on hold a lawsuit by rival Turkcell against MTN, in which Turkcell alleges MTN engaged in bribery, pending a US Supreme Court ruling whether the case can be heard in an American US court.
Turkcell filed a $4.2 billion lawsuit against MTN in the US district court in Washington in March. MTN, which has denied all the allegations, initially expected the ruling to be handed down towards the end of this year, or early next year.
Turkcell's court filings are steeped in allegations of corruption on the part of MTN in acquiring the second GSM licence in Iran in 2005. MTN has a 49% stake in Iran's second cellphone operator, Irancell.
MTN had asked Judge Walton of the Washington district court to either dismiss the Turkcell case outright, or stay it until after the Supreme Court rules, taking into account what has become known as the Kiobel case, the operator says in a statement.
Using the Kiobel case, the judge will then decide whether Turkcell's case against MTN can be heard in a US court when neither is a US company, and the alleged conduct happened on foreign territory. "Legal experts predict the Supreme Court will use the Kiobel case to restrict such cases," says MTN in a statement.
MTN still believes that there is no legal merit to Turkcell's claim and no basis for such claim to be brought before a US court. MTN expects to matter to come to an end after the Supreme Court hands down its ruling, which should happen by the end of June next year. "MTN will accordingly continue to oppose the claim."
Turkcell has accused MTN of bribing both South African and Iranian officials, as well as soliciting the provision of weapons by SA to Iran, to acquire the permit. In February, MTN's board appointed a committee to investigate the allegations made by Turkcell, which is chaired by an independent jurist, Lord Leonard Hoffmann.
It is alleged in Turkcell's court papers that MTN tried to influence SA's policy on Iran's nuclear programme. Included in the manuscript are allegations that MTN attempted to influence SA's vote at the IAEA by trying to influence Minty, who served on the IAEA board, to abstain during a crucial 2005 vote on Iran's nuclear programme by the IAEA.
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