A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday said the federal government may prosecute Turkey's Halkbank on charges it helped Iran evade American sanctions, rejecting the state-owned lender's argument that it deserved immunity.

An appeals court ruled that the state-owned lender, accused of helping Iran evade sanctions, isn’t entitled to sovereign immunity.

Halkbank, a major bank in Turkey that is owned by the government, is facing legal trouble in the United States. U.S. prosecutors have accused the bank of secretly helping Iran get around tough U.S. sanctions that were put in place to limit Iran’s access to money.

The United States (US) hit Iran’s oil and petrochemicals sectors with new sanctions Friday in response to Tehran’s October 1 attack against Israel, designating dozens of new companies and firms. The Treasury Department said it was going after Iran’s “shadow fleet” of ships involved in selling Iranian oil in circumvention of existing sanctions,

Iran is bracing for a retaliatory attack by Israel, which analysts say will probably target military sites rather than nuclear or oil facilities.