Canada sells Iran’s properties, gives money away to ‘terror victims’

Yusef Jalali

Press TV, Tehran

Some 30 million dollars worth of Iranian assets in Canada were seized and distributed among victims of terrorist attacks;

The move was made earlier in September, but it did not receive much media attention amid the escalating tension between Iran and the US which dominated the headlines about Iran. But here’s the story;

According to a document filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in August, tens of millions of dollars’ worth of seized Iranian government properties were sold in Canada and the proceeds were handed to victims of terrorist groups.

Iran has strongly condemned the Canadian government’s move as illegal.

The recipients include several American families who have filed claims in Canada, seeking a share of Iran’s assets seized by the Canadian government. The terror victims include the family of Marla Bennett, a US citizen who was reportedly killed in a 2002 bombing at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem al-Quds.

The US and its allies blame the attacks on Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements Hamas and Hezbollah. The families claimed that the Iranian government supported the two organizations and was therefore responsible for their actions.

Iran has denied any role in the attacks which the courts have based their cases on to appropriate the country's frozen assets.

Iran and its allies do not regard Hamas as a terror group. They argue that Hamas has played a major role in the armed struggle against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. The same argument holds for Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is known for its resistance against Israel’s 33-day war on Lebanon.

Iran says it is a major victim of terrorism, with some 17,000 Iranians having lost their lives in acts of terrorism mostly led by the anti-Iran terrorist group MKO. The US and its allies, such as Canada, do not recognize MKO as a terror organization.

Iran says Canada's move is in line with US's economic terrorism against Tehran, something which they say highlights Canada's inferiority to the US. However, Tehran has warned that it will take action directly if Canada does not restore Iran's properties, which Iranian officials say are the right of the Iranian people.

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