Iran Blasts Canadian Court Ruling as "Unacceptable". (Fars).
The Iranian foreign ministry condemned the Ontario
court ruling ordering the government of Iran to pay the legal costs of
what it alleged as victims of Iran-sponsored terrorist attacks,
dismissing it as "unacceptable".
"The
ruling is against the obvious principles of the international law on
the judicial immunity of governments and their assets, and is
unacceptable," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Sunday.
"Unfortunately, the Canadian judge has issued the
ruling without any attention to the international regulations and the
principle of the governments' equality, and the ruling is dismissed by
us," he added.
Qassemi said that Iran has officially protested at
the Canadian government for the court ruling and reserves the right for
itself to pursue the issue through political and legal action.
Relations between Tehran and Ottawa were severed by Canada's conservative government in 2012.
In relevant remarks in January, Iranian Deputy
Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi
referred to the relations between Iran and Canada after the 2015 nuclear
deal, and said, "They voice interest in entering a new atmosphere of
relations with Iran. We also consider such remarks as good and positive
but emphasize that these comments should be translated into action."
"There is an obstacle on this way which is the
legal restriction approved by the parliament during the former Canadian
government's tenure which has called off the political immunity of Iran
in Canada," Takht Ravanchi said, expressing the hope that the approval
would be cancelled to help the further expansion of ties between Tehran
and Ottawa.
Canada’s Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion said in
March that his country’s 2012 move to cut diplomatic ties with Iran has
had no positive consequences, expressing willingness for re-engagement
with the Islamic Republic.
“Canada’s severing of ties with Iran had no
positive consequences for anyone: not for Canadians, not for the people
of Iran, not for Israel, and not for global security,” Stéphane Dion
said while addressing an international conference at the University of
Ottawa.
The administration of former Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper severed diplomatic ties with Iran in September
2012, citing, among other pretexts, what it described as “continued
threats from Iran to Israel.”
Related:
