Canadian provincial court’s ruling the latest move in decades-long economic warfare against Iran
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Naser Kanani at a press conference. Image Credit: Tasnim News.
Written by: Daniel Xie and Christopher Black
The seizure of the national assets of a foreign state by another state for political reasons is becoming increasingly part of the tools used by NATO and other EU aligned powers against nations targeted by them. Under the pretext of Iranian support for Palestinian Resistance to Israeli apartheid and the tragic accidental shooting down of Ukrainian International Airlines 752, Iranian assets in Canada have been vociferously stolen with encouragement for Canada’s government.
The seizure of national assets has reached unprecedented levels recently with the seizure of Russian financial assets and gold reserves held in banks and other institutions in these nations. These seizures are designed to place an economic embargo on targeted nations to force them to obey the directives of the aggressor. The Canadian government itself has carried out actions seizing the national assets of foreign states not complying with western interests. This is exemplified by Canada’s recent economic actions against the Islamic Republic of Iran. These actions themselves are consistent with the longstanding behavior of the Canadian government in acting against Iranian sovereignty on behalf of western interests.
Canada’s recent rounds of economic warfare against Iran
Recently, on October 3, 2022, the Canadian government announced sanctions on various Iranian government organizations, along with Iranian media outlet Press TV. The entities targeted by these sanctions were sanctioned under the claim that said entities directly spread propaganda and perpetuate human rights violations. The basis used to justify the claims was the death of Mahsa Amini, supposedly at the hands of Iran’s ‘morality police’ for not wearing a hijab properly. Iranian state media has argued that her death came at a hospital, with no connection to her detention by police, where she died of heart failure. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding Amini’s death, the outcry resulting from Amini’s death has been exploited by the west to ferment regime change in Iran. According to Hafsa Kara Mustapha, this was to be carried out by mobilizing NGOs and anti-government groups in Iran to destabilize the government. Externally, the foreign arms of anti-government Iranian NGOs are to drum up anti-Iran sentiment and place excessive blame for Amini’s death on the Iranian government. This demonization occuring despite Iran seeking to do its own investigation into her death.
The October sanctions were preceded by actions taken by the Ontario Superior Court against the government of Iran for the downing of Ukrainian International Airlines 752. On January 3, 2020, US President Donald Trump, in violation of international law, assassinated Iranian Major-General Qassim Soleimani as he was leaving Baghdad Airport. Soleimani was en route to visit Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi at the time of his assassination. He was reportedly carrying Iranian documents for a meeting with diplomats from Saudi Arabia. Trump claimed the assassination was in revenge for a rocket attack on a US air base in Iraq, along with subsequent rocket attacks on the US Green Zone in Baghdad. Following the assassination, Iran responded by launching several ballistic missiles on two US airbases in Iraq in retaliation, inflicting significant losses in US soldiers and materials on base. Four hours after the attack, a missile battery in Tehran, on high alert for a possible US retaliation, mistook a regularly scheduled flight of Ukrainian International Airlines 752, for a cruise missile. The missile battery dispatched two missiles which downed the plane. There were no survivors. Many of the victims of the downing were Canadian.
The shooting down of Ukrainian International Airlines 752 led to outrage directed at the Iranian government within Canada. A few voices, however, would place the blame on Trump for setting in motion the events culminating in the tragic downing of Ukrainian International Airlines 752. One of these voices was Michael McCain of Maple Leaf Foods, a prominent leader of Canadian business. In a series of four tweets, McCain accused Trump of destabilizing the region by his assassination of General Soleimani. McCain links this assassination to the tragic shooting down of Ukrainian International Airlines 752 and the loss of 63 Canadians on board. However, the Trudeau government would not share McCain’s sentiments that the downing of Ukrainian International Airlines 752 was the result of Trump’s destabilization of the region. In a June 24, 2021, report titled “The Downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752: Factual Analysis:”, the Canadian government claimed that the shooting down of Flight 752 was deliberately caused by the Iranian government.
Despite initially denying responsibility for the downing, the Iranian government, after an inquiry, quickly reversed course and admitted the plane had been targeted in error. The Iranian government then issued an apology, promised compensation to families of the victims, and arrested the crew of the missile battery. Negotiations over the level of compensation ensued. However, family members of some dual citizens of Iran and Canada, filed an action for damages in the Ontario courts. They claimed that the downing of the plane was “an act of terrorism.” Iran refused to attend to the jurisdiction of the courts. This since Ontario courts have no jurisdiction over the downing of Flight 752, as the plane was shot down in Iran. It was a Ukrainian plane, not a Canadian plane. The passengers died in Iran. So, any action for compensation would have to be brought before the Iranian courts or in cooperation with the Iranian government. This process was ignored by a court and a government hostile to Iran. On January 3, 2022, Ontario’s superior court awarded $107 million, plus interest, to the families of six that died in the shooting down of Flight 752. This followed the May 2021 ruling by Ontario's Superior Court of Justice claiming that Iran’s actions constituted deliberate terrorist activity rather than a tragic accident. According to Payam Akhavan, a professor of international law and senior fellow at the University of Toronto, paying the families $107 million would need to be followed by the locating and seizure of Iranian assets. Akhavan contributes legal advice to the ‘International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752’, run by the governments of Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
The Ontario judge made his finding despite a Canadian government forensic report on the incident stating it was an act of negligence, confirming Iran’s position that it was not “intentional.” The judge also held it was an ‘act of terrorism.” When there was no evidence before him of that whatsoever because an act of terrorism is an act of violence against civilians designed to terrorize or create fear in civilians for a political objective The unintentional shooting down of a civilian aircraft clearly does not meet the definition of terrorism. But the bias of the judge expressed itself since without the finding of “terrorism” the claim would have failed and been dismissed as it should have been.
The Ontario Superior court ruling was not the first time the Canadian government attempted to seize Iranian assets by legal means. In 2019, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice sold properties owned by the Iranian government in Canada. The properties were sold for $28 million dollars to Americans who lost family members to purported Hamas and Hezbollah attacks decades ago. Among these families was the family of Marla Bennett, an American woman killed by Hamas. The US ruled regarding the killing of Marla Bennett that Iran supposedly supplied Hamas with the weapons used to kill Bennett, and as such were ordered to pay compensation. The seizure was sanctioned under the 2012 Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. Iran condemned the seizure and sale of its’ assets in Canada, accusing Canada of both economic terrorism and violating international law.
The 2019 seizure of Iranian property was already planned by the Canadian government for some time. On November 1, 2012, the Ontario superior court issued a restraining order against multiple Iranian property in Canada. The death of Marla Bennett was used as a pretext for this seizure. This property included:
The building at 245 Metcalfe Street in Ottawa, which housed Iran’s embassy until the Canadian government ordered it to be closed in September 2012
Offices at 290 Sheppard Avenue West in Toronto that previously operated as the Center for Iranian Studies
A long, industrial building at 2 Robinson Avenue in Ottawa that also operated as an Iranian Cultural Center
All these buildings would be sold in the 2019 seizure of assets.
In addition to the death of Marla Bennett, the alleged use of Iranian Cultural Centers as a front for Iranian influence was used as pretext for asset seizure. During the 2012 court hearings, the Ontario court heard claims from York University Professor Farrokh Zandi that Iran uses cultural centers to promote Iranian political beliefs in Canada. These were not the first time that unsubstantiated claims of Iranian political influence via cultural centers were made. On April 13, 2010, Macleans magazine made similar claims regarding the Center for Iranian Studies. Namely, that the Center for Iranian Studies was a front for Iranian political influence.
As a result of Zandi’s claims, the Ontario Court moved to seize Iranian cultural centers on the pretext that they were “fronts” for the Iranian government or directly owned by the Iranian government. This was despite the lack of actual evidence brought forward that the Iranian government were using cultural centers to influence Canadian politics.
A brief history of Canada’s actions against Iranian sovereignty
These actions are not the first time Canada sought to undermine Iranian sovereignty. Canada has consistently backed efforts undermining the Iranian government whenever they opposed western interests. This foreign policy has been consistent for decades before Iran’s 1979 revolution. When the CIA instigated a coup in 1953 against Iranian Prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in response to efforts to Iran’s UK-owned oil industry, Canadian officials such as then Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester Pearson supported it. After the subsequent installing of Shah Reza Pahlavi as dictator, Canada established formal diplomatic relations with Iran in 1955. From 1955 to the Iranian revolution, Canada developed strong economic ties with Pahlavi-led Iran; by the 1970s, thousands of Canadian workers and contractors worked in Iran. This was even as the Shah presided over a brutal autocracy where the CIA trained secret police, SAVAK, tortured and murdered political dissidents by the thousands. These atrocities received no condemnation from Canada.
Following the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Canada cut diplomatic ties with Iran, closing their embassy there in 1980. For the next few decades, only low-level diplomatic interactions were resumed with Iran. Whatever diplomatic ties remain were totally dismantled in the 2010s under the Harper government, as Canada imposed sanctions on Iran in cooperation with the US and the EU. These sanctions were in response to the supposed failure of Iran to meet “international obligations” and its nuclear program. The sanctions were carried out under the Special Economic Measures Act and it was expanded over the following years. These expansions resulted in a broad prohibition on exports and imports to and from Iran, subject to certain exceptions, and on financial transactions. They included:
The addition of five members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp to the list of designated persons targeted by sanctions. This was due to supposed reports on October 17, 2011, of an Iranian-coordinated plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States
The November 21, 2011, imposition of sanctions prohibiting financial transactions with Iran and prohibiting all goods used in the petrochemical, oil and gas industry. This was in response to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s November 9, 2011 assessment of Iran's nuclear program
The addition of 98 new entities and one individual to the list of designated persons targeted by sanctions on December 11, 2012. These sanctions also prohibited exporting to Iran goods used in the shipbuilding, mineral exploration, mining, metal production, and telecommunications industries. The import of natural gas, oil, and petroleum or petrochemical products from Iran were also prohibited. The justification for the December 2012 sanctions was supposed continued lack of cooperation on Iran’s part with the IAEA and the P5+1 group
On May 29 2013, Canada further tightened sanctions under Iran. These sanctions added 30 individuals and 82 entities to Canada’s list of designated persons under the Special Economic Measures Act. These sanctions were imposed under claims that Iran failed to respond to the confidence-building measures proposed by the P5+1 group
This Act is a violation of the UN Charter and void under international and domestic law.
Apart from the expansion of sanctions targeting Iran under Harper, the 2012 seizure of the assets of the Iranian embassy and cultural center occurred under his government. As discussed above, the death of Marla Bennett and claims of these assets being Iranian fronts were used as pretext to justify the seizure of assets. In fact, the Harper government would pass laws that made it easier to use legal pretext to wage economic warfare on Iran. In the Ontario court ruling the seizure of the Iranian buildings, Justice Beth Allen would cite the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. This act designated any country accused of “supporting terrorism” to be exempt from the protections Canada’s State Immunity Act gave to states regarding lawsuits, regardless of if these allegations were legitimate or not.
The adaptation of the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act in March of 2012 was criticized by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association for the potential it has to undermine due process and the impartiality of the Canadian justice system. This criticism came because of how the Victims of Terrorism Act could be used to politicize justice as a weapon against states the Canadian government is opposed to. In addition, the law still grants selective immunity to states that are not deemed to be supporters of terrorism. This results in a situation whereby a state is not on the Victims of Terrorism Act, they can engage in terrorism and be provided immunity from prosecution.
In addition to efforts to target the Iranian government by sanctions and asset confiscation, Canada closed its embassy in Tehran in 2012 and expelled Iranian diplomats from Ottawa. This was done under the pretext that Iran was seeking to advance its nuclear program. In the same year, Canada listed Iran as a state supporter of terrorism under the State Immunity Act. In addition, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was listed as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code. On the world stage, the Harper government advocated for the diplomatic isolation of Iran, urging countries to maintain harsh sanctions at the UN.
Trudeau Continues Harper’s Anti-Iran Policies
Despite promising to reset relations with Iran during his 2015 campaign, Trudeau would renege on these promises even before his first seizure of Iranian assets in 2020. In June 2018, the Trudeau government backed a private member’s motion brought forwards by a Conservative MP accusing Iran of inciting violence in Gaza. This despite the violence erupting in Gaza at that time instigated by Israeli forces. These Israeli forces targeting Palestinian protesters calling for the right of return and opposing Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as capital of Israel. The motion also called for listing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity and ceasing all attempts to reset relations with Iran.
Canada also continued under Trudeau to support yearly UN resolutions demonizing Iran as a human rights abuser. This support was condemned in 2019 by Iran’s Deputy Representative to the UN, Eshaq Al-e Habib. Habib stated that Canada had no moral ground to condemn Iranian human rights due to its’ support of apartheid Israel.
In addition, Trudeau has also been fully willing to abide by US imposed sanctions on Iran. When the US placed an arrest warrant on Meng Wanzhou under the pretext that she circumvented US sanctions on Iran, Canada complied with the arrest warrant. Canada’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou indicated not only willingness to go along with the US-led Second Cold War on China, but also sanctions placed by the US against countries opposed to its interests.
The Illegality of Economic Warfare under the UN charter
Iranian officials correctly point out that Canada’s seizures of Iranian assets are illegal under international law. Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter prohibits UN members from resorting to the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State. The defined “use of force” was initially understood to refer only to military force. The UN has since adopted a series of resolutions delegitimizing the use of economic force by individual States under the context of article 2(4).
Economic measures against a nation state can only be imposed by the United Nations Security Council under Chapter VII. No single nation state or group of nations states can act on their own to do so and any such action is a violation of the UN Charter, and therefore of internnational law and since international law is part of domestic law of Canadian law.
In 1965 under the “Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of States and the Protection of Their Independence and Sovereignty”, it was declared that no state may use or encourage the use of economic warfare to coerce another State. This was followed in 1995 by a UN General assembly resolution against economic warfare targeting developing countries. The UNGA expressed grave concern that coercive economic measures were being used to stifle the economic development of developing countries. They urged the international community to adopt urgent measures eliminating the use of unilateral coercive measures by developed countries. This was followed in 1996 by a UNGA resolution titled “Elimination of Coercive Economic Measures as a Means of Political and Economic Compulsion”. In 1997 the UNGA would go on to pass by near unanimity a resolution on “Unilateral Economic Measures as a Means of Political and Economic Coercion Against Developing Countries”. This resolution sought to eliminate the use of unilateral coercive economic measures against developing countries. It was itself followed by an even stronger though more limited resolution on “Human Rights and Unilateral Coercive Measures”.
Consequent on the 1995 resolution, the UN Secretariat in the summer of 1997 convened an ad hoc expert group meeting on “economic measures as a means of political and economic coercion against developing countries”. That group concluded, under the heading of “basic legal norms”, that economic coercion is illegal under the UN charter. While the original terms of the UN charter was initially understood to refer only to military force, it was expanded through the years to refer to economic warfare as well. Canada’s efforts to wage economic warfare on Iran has no legal ground to stand on.
Yet despite UN directives, the US, Canada, and their allies have consistently used cohesive economic warfare to destabilize countries deemed to be working against their interests. Canada’s actions towards Iran and the mass seizure of Russian assets by the US were only two recent incidents of cohesive economic warfare. Before its’ entry into the war in Donbass, Russia was previously targeted by extrajudicial legal actions over the alleged downing of a
Malaysian Airlines flight over Ukraine in 2014. In late 2021, the UK seized the gold assets of Venezuela. The justification for this was the pretext that only the recognized government of Venezuela could have them. The UK recognized coup plotter Juan Guaido as the president of Venezuela over elected President Maduro.
Even more recently in August 2021, the US stole over 7 billion dollars of money belonging to Afghanistan. This was part of a bid to re-impose control over the country from the Taliban. Neither of these attempts at cohesive economic warfare have been condemned by Canada. Canada would even support efforts by the US and the UK at destabilizing countries targeted by economic warfare in their own means. Canada would be one of the first countries to declare Guaido as the president of Venezuela. They would also host an Afghan government in exile in preparation for an American re-occupation of Afghanistan.
Canadian economic warfare on Iran is disgraceful and illegal
Canada’s efforts to seize Iranian financial assets in response to the shooting down of PS752/AUI752 is the latest attempt at economic warfare against the government of Iran. This blatant attempt at economic warfare destabilizing Iran is consistent with Canada’s decades long anti-Iran foreign policy. This foreign policy involved the use of sanctions and asset seizure to pressure Iran to adhere to western interests. Multiple UN resolutions through the decades affirmed the illegality of coercive economic warfare. Yet Canada and its’ western allies have consistently ignored these resolutions to target using economic warfare any country standing against their interests. Under the pretext of compensation for the families of PS752/AUI752 victims, economic coercion is waged against Iran. This being despite Iran acknowledging their actions and seeking to offer compensation themselves. While Iran is punished, the US role in escalating the events culminating in the tragic shooting of flight PS752/AUI752 is willfully ignored.
As further regime change efforts are instigated against Iran, the task at hand for anti-imperialist minded Canadians is to oppose economic warfare launched by the Trudeau government exploiting tragedy as a pretext for imperialist end goals. This is an urgent fight, as Canadian mainstream media serves to push anti-Iran propaganda, which included a TV interview with the son of the ex-Iranian dictator (the Shah), Reza Pahlavi. Canadians should call for the end of all sanctions on Iran, the repealing of the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, and immediate resumption of diplomacy with the Iranian government.
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Daniel Xie is a firm anti-imperialist, who writes about the need for an anti-imperialist and independent Canadian foreign policy. He serves as the Associate Editor of The Canada Files.
Christopher Black is an international criminal lawyer based in Toronto. He is known for a number of high-profile war crimes cases and recently published his novel Beneath the Clouds. He writes essays on international law, politics and world events, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
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