Japan has said it will abide by an international ban on whaling in the Antarctic after claims by its government that annual whale hunts are for scientific research --- and therefore should be allowed to continue --- were rejected by an international court.

The United Nation's International Court of Justice has told the Japanese government earlier today to halt its whaling operations in the Antarctic, according to a report by the BBC.

The court agreed with Australia, which asserted in a case filed in May 2010 that the Antarctic hunting was not for exploratory purposes, as has been claimed by Tokyo.

Australian representatives had decried the Japan's Antarctic whaling trips as commercial whaling in disguise.

Japanese officials have they will follow the international panel's decision, but added in a statement they regret and are "deeply disappointed by the decision." They have long contended the suit brought by Australia, along with the efforts of other countries to shut down Japan's Antarctic whaling activities on conservation grounds, has been an attempt to impose outside cultural norms on the Japanese people.

Japanese officials contend minke and several other whale species are, in fact, plentiful and that their country's whaling activities are sustainable.

The meat from the Antarctic hunts is sold commercially in Japan, the BBC reports.

The court's ruling is considered to be legally binding.

Peter Tomka, the ICJ's presiding judge, announced the court decided by a 12-4 vote that Japan should withdraw all permits and licenses for whaling in the Antarctic and refrain from issuing any new ones, the BBC piece explained.

According to court documents, Japan has caught an estimated 3,600 minke whales since its current operation began in 2005, while scientific findings derived from catches have been limited.

Japan signed on to a moratorium on whaling in 1986, but continued whaling in the north and south Pacific under provisions that allowed for scientific research. At the same time, Norway and Iceland rejected the ban outright and continued their commercial whaling operations.

Willie MacKenzie, a spokesman for Greenpeace U.K., told the BBC he welcomed the ICJ's decision.

"The myth that this hunt was in any way scientific," he said, "can now be dismissed once and for all."