MTN Group has lost a bid to overturn, or immediately appeal, a US court ruling allowing claims against it under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) to proceed, clearing the way for two of the cases to enter discovery.
On Friday, the US district court for the eastern district of New York denied MTN’s requests to reconsider, or permit an immediate appeal of, its earlier decisions allowing certain ATA claims in Zobay v MTN Group Limited to proceed, the company told shareholders and noteholders in a statement on Tuesday.
Zobay and the related case of Long v MTN Group Limited, which is pending in the same court, will now move to discovery, the stage at which the parties exchange information in their possession. Once that is complete, either side may ask the court for summary judgment – a ruling as a matter of law based on the evidence produced. If neither does, or the court refuses, the cases will proceed further.
MTN stressed that the rulings were procedural. “The rulings are procedural and do not constitute a finding of wrongdoing or liability against MTN,” it said. Under US procedure, it could not challenge the plaintiffs’ factual allegations at the motion-to-dismiss stage. Discovery gives it its first opportunity “to produce and solicit evidence to disprove plaintiffs’ allegations”.
Discovery works in both directions, however. It is also the stage at which the plaintiffs can seek MTN’s internal documents and testimony.
Zobay and Long are two of four ATA cases MTN is defending in the US. The others, Cabrera and Chand & Davis, have seen no material developments, the company said. The suits, brought by or on behalf of US service members and their families, broadly allege that MTN’s business dealings in Iran and Afghanistan benefited groups responsible for attacks on American personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. MTN denies the allegations.
‘Not a culpable participant’
The Iranian claims centre on MTN’s 49% stake in Irancell, in which Iranian state- and defence-linked entities hold the majority. MTN has said it has no operational control over the business and has drawn no dividends from it since 2018. It has been trying to exit since 2020, but sanctions have blocked both a sale and the movement of money, leaving it, as TechCentral reported in March, in a position where it “can’t stay, can’t leave”.
The stake is also weighing on MTN’s earnings. In its interim results in August, the group booked an impairment of 213c/share related to its Iran operations following the war in Iran, leaving an Iranian dead end on its balance sheet.
Separately, MTN disclosed in August 2025 that it is the subject of a US department of justice grand jury investigation relating to its former Afghanistan business and its Irancell stake.
“MTN continues to believe that the evidence will demonstrate that MTN was not a culpable participant in the attacks at issue,” the group said, adding that it would continue to defend the proceedings “vigorously” and “consider all available legal options”. — © 2026 NewsCentral Media
