{"id":4947,"date":"2016-06-21T23:38:25","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T04:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/?p=4947"},"modified":"2016-06-21T23:38:25","modified_gmt":"2016-06-22T04:38:25","slug":"a-canadian-court-orders-iran-to-turn-over-most-of-its-canadian-assets-to-victims-of-its-terrorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/4947\/","title":{"rendered":"A Canadian Court orders Iran to turn over most of its Canadian assets to victims of its terrorism."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2016621192838781993461\"<\/a>Source: Toronto Star, 20 June 2016<\/span><\/p>\n

The tiny house on Sheppard Ave. W. may be vacant and run-down, but the story behind it is replete with terrorism, international intrigue and diplomatic headaches.
\nAn Ontario court found that the building \u2014 as well as another empty property in Ottawa and two bank accounts \u2014 is owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
\nAnd last week, a Toronto judge dismissed the country\u2019s arguments of state immunity from seizure of property and ordered that the assets be turned over to American victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism who have won cases against Iran in U.S. courts.
\nThe complex case and subsequent ruling comes as the federal government is looking to re-establish diplomatic relations with Tehran that were cut off by the Conservative government in 2012.
\nIt also highlights the little-known fact that federal legislation allows for victims of state-sponsored terrorism from other countries, and their families, to ask Canadian courts to seize Iranian assets here if they can prove their case.
\nThe Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, enacted under the former Conservative government, currently lists Iran and Syria as state sponsors of terrorism.
\nThe case involves dozens of American victims, their families and estates who had been successful in getting judgments against Iran in U.S. courts, and then applied north of the border to collect some of the damages they claim they\u2019re owed.
\nAmong the plaintiffs are legal guardians and family members of Edward Tracy and Joseph Cicippio, who were kidnapped by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon in the 1980s and tortured during their years in captivity.
\nTracy was awarded $18.5 million in damages by the U.S. courts in 2003, while Cippio\u2019s relatives were awarded $91 million in 2005 for emotional distress.
\n\u201cTerrorism is one of the world\u2019s greatest threats,\u201d Superior Court Justice Glenn Hainey wrote in his decision rejecting Iran\u2019s numerous arguments regarding immunity.
\n\u201cThis case involves claims by victims of terrorist attacks carried out by two terrorist organizations. The defendant, the Islamic Republic of Iran, has been designated as a foreign state supporter of both of these terrorist organizations.\u201d
\nThe battle over the house in North York and the other assets began in earnest two years ago, when Superior Court Justice David Brown found that they were \u201cbeneficially owned\u201d by Iran.
\nThe country did not participate in the court proceedings at the time, but maintained that the building at 290 Sheppard Ave. W. in Toronto and 2 Robinson Ave. in Ottawa were legally owned by active corporations, and not held in trust for Iran.
\nProperty records show the North York building was purchased in 2005 for $827,000 by Farhangeiran Inc., whose sole director listed in the corporate registry is Fazel Larijani. A former cultural attach\u00e9 at the Iranian embassy in Ottawa, Larijani is part of a powerful Iranian family whose brothers have served as Speaker of the Iranian parliament and head of the judiciary.
\nThe property is now estimated to be worth closer to $1.3 million.
\nThe Ottawa building was purchased for $1.6 million in 1998 by Fatima Cultural Activities and transferred to the Mobin Foundation in 2001, property records show. The sole director of the foundation listed in the corporate registry is Seyed Adeli, a former Iranian ambassador to Canada.
\nIt\u2019s estimated the property\u2019s price tag is now closer to $3 million.
\nAccording to Brown\u2019s 2014 ruling, Iran also had two Canadian bank accounts that were considered \u201cnon-diplomatic\u201d \u2014 one with Scotiabank containing $1,651,942 and another with RBC, holding \u20ac333,445.23. The funds were deposited into a trust account pending last week\u2019s ruling ordering that the money be given to the plaintiffs.
\nBoth the Ottawa and Toronto properties were once known as cultural centres, but many Iranian academics in Canada believe otherwise.
\nThe North York property was called the \u201cCenter for Iranian Studies,\u201d and its now-defunct website said it was a non-government organization supporting those interested in Iranian culture.
\nBut in an open letter in 2010, eight prominent Iranian academics in Toronto demanded to know what took place at the centre and who was funding its activities. They said it was really a front for the Iranian government. The house was sparsely furnished when the Star visited that year.
\nWhen the Star visited again in 2014, the blinds were drawn and there was no answer at the door. Neighbours reported seeing less activity next door after Iran\u2019s diplomatic mission was expelled in September 2012.
\nA York University professor told the Star at the time that Iran has used so-called cultural centres to promote pro-Iranian regime interests abroad.
\nHe said the major concern among Iranians living in other countries is that their old government is spying on them through such centres.<\/p>\n

Source: Toronto Star, 20 June 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Toronto Star, 20 June 2016 The tiny house on Sheppard Ave. W. may be vacant and run-down, but the story behind it is replete […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4948,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-terrorism-fundamentalism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4947"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4949,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4947\/revisions\/4949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}