Iran files complaint against Canada at UN court for breaching state immunity

A statement by the Iranian government’s website said Tehran wants the the International Court of Justice to compel Canada to stop violating the Iranian government’s immunities as a sovereign state in Canadian courts and avoid repeating such breaches of international law in the future.

Iran’s filing to the court also demands compensation from Canada.

It said the violations began in 2012, when Ottawa listed Iran as a terror sponsor under “false and wrongful” allegations and then seized property and assets belonging to the Iranian government.

The statement said Canada has continued this “wrong process” in spite of repeated protests by Iran.

“Iran, through this move, once again showed [its adherence] to its principled position on the peaceful settlement of differences and commitment to the rule of law regarding relations between countries,” the statement said, expressing hope that Canada will change its “political approach” and stop violating its obligations.

Tehran said Canada had breached international law by court rulings ordering Iranian assets to be handed over to victims of various attacks that Canada blames on groups backed by Iran.

The Hague-based court confirmed in a statement that Iran had launched legal proceedings against Canada on Tuesday.

Iran said in its filing to the court that “Canada has adopted and implemented a series of legislative, executive, and judicial measures against Iran and its property [since 2012] in breach of its international obligations,” said the statement.

“Iran respectfully requests the Court to adjudge and declare that by failing to respect the immunities of Iran and its property, Canada has violated its international obligations toward Iran,” it added.

It also noted that Iran demanded compensation from Canada for the “violation of its international obligations”, and asked the ICJ to tell Ottawa to overrule any judgments against Tehran in Canadian courts.

Tehran has also filed a case against Washington over using billions of dollars in assets frozen to compensate victims of alleged terror attacks.

In March, ICJ judges ruled Washington had illegally allowed courts to freeze assets of some Iranian companies and ordered Washington to pay compensation, but left the amount to be determined later.

The statement by the Iranian government also rejected Canada’s frequent accusations that Iran supports terrorism and violates human rights.

The statement said Canada has systematically violated human rights, supported the “dominating and interventionist” foreign policies of the US, and has acted as an accomplice in the Israeli regime’s inhumane crimes in Palestine and southwest Asia.

“It shouldn’t be forgotten that the Canadian government has in its anti-human rights record the genocide of hundreds of native indigenous children at compulsory schools and the mass burial of these innocent children,” it added, referring to recent discoveries of hundreds of graves of indigenous children at former government-run compulsory boarding schools in Canada.

Canada broke off diplomatic ties with Iran and closed its Tehran embassy in a surprise move in 2012, citing various reasons including Iran’s support for Syria, its nuclear work and alleged threats to the Israeli regime.