Canadian Court Upholds $1.7bln Judgment against Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Canada’s Ontario Court of Appeal has issued a ruling against Iran in favor of those who claim to be victims of Iranians' support for resistance groups, a report said.
On Monday, Ontario’s Court of Appeal upheld a US$1.7-billion judgment against the government of Iran.
The plaintiffs had sought compensation in the court under Canada’s Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act.
Justice C. William Hourigan, on behalf of a panel of concurring judges, wrote, “There is nothing offensive about using peaceful legislative means to combat terrorism”, National Post reported.
Back in February, Canada’s Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that the Islamic Republic had to pay $300,000 in legal costs to the so-called victims of terrorism.
The Monday decision was similar to US Supreme Court's ruling in April 2016 to hand over $2 billion in Iran’s frozen assets to American families of those killed in the 1983 bombing of US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut and other attacks.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani announced at that time that the country had filed a lawsuit against the US with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
Also, a US court verdict last Wednesday allowed the American government to seize an office tower in New York City owned largely by an Iranian charity organization, the Alavi Foundation.
A jury claimed that the charity was controlled by the Iranian government and the rent generated from the tower constituted a violation of US sanctions against Iran.
