Canadian Court Awards Iranian Assets to Terror Victims

Iran lost a key court battle Thursday when an Ontario Supreme Court judge ruled that the Islamic Republic’s non-diplomatic assets in Canada be transferred to victims of Iranian-sponsored terror organizations.

In a victory in the war against terror, a Canadian judge on Thursday ordered that the Iranian government’s non-diplomatic assets be given to victims of terror committed by Hamas and Hezbollah and sponsored by the Islamic Republic, Canada’s National Post reported.

“Terrorism is one of the world’s greatest threats,” Justice Glenn Hainey wrote. “The broad issue before the court is whether Iran is entitled to immunity from the jurisdiction of Canadian courts for its support of terrorism.”

The State Department’s annual report on global terrorist activity, which was released on Thursday, confirmed that Iran “remains the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2015.”

According to the Post report, “the long-awaited ruling by the Ontario Superior Court dismissed every argument Iran’s lawyers had made at a trial held in Toronto in January, leaving Tehran financial responsible for the actions of the terrorists it has backed.”

The non-diplomatic assets include properties and the contents of a list of bank accounts.

The $13-million case was brought by the Justice for Victims of Terror Act (JVTA), which “continues to do its job in holding Iran — the world’s most egregious state sponsor of terror — ‎accountable for its terrorist crimes,” said Danny Eisen, co-founder of the Canadian Coalition Against Terror. “As Canada seeks to re-engage Iran, it is critical that Iran continue to be held to account in Canadian courts for its terrorism and human rights abuses.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, elected in October. Since his election in October, the Liberal government has been seeking reconciliation with Iran. (AP)

As the Post explains, “until the JVTA came into effect four years ago, foreign governments enjoyed state immunity from civil courts. But the law stripped that immunity from Iran and Syria.”

The ruling could bring new challenges to the Liberal government, which, in a turnaround from the policy of the Harper administration, is working to re-establish diplomat ties with Iran. The Islamic Republic and Syria were labeled in Canada as state sponsors of terror. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had labeled the Iran nuclear deal a “breakthrough for quiet diplomacy.”

Canada is also currently negotiating with Tehran over the fate of Homa Hoodfar, an Iranian-born Montreal professor who is being held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison on unspecified charges. According to her niece, Hoodfar, 65, was visiting relatives and conducting research on women in the country.

By: United with Israel Staff