Iran should respond in kind to Canada’s sale of diplomatic properties: MP

A senior member of the Iranian parliament has called for a decisive response to Canada’s sale of Iranian properties in Ottawa and Toronto, saying Canadian shipments crossing the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf should be confiscated in response to the move.

“An order should be issued to confiscate ships and goods that set off from the Hormuz region to the destination of Canada,” said Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh on Sunday, adding, “This measure should be adopted as soon as possible.”

The comments came two days after Iranian Foreign Ministry warned Canada that the country should await consequences if it does not revoke a decision to sell Iranian properties worth tens of millions of dollars in an alleged bid to compensate so-called victims of terror.

In a Friday statement, the ministry strongly condemned the move as “a clear breach of the international law,” and urged the Canadian government to immediately return the properties.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Tehran will take action by itself to restore its rights based on international regulations if Ottawa fails to immediately revoke the unlawful decision and compensate the damages.

Falahatpisheh, a senior member of Iranian parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, said that courts in Iran should be authorized to seize Canadian government properties in Iran.

He said, however, that responding in kind to the ruling issued in August by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to sell the two Iranian-owned buildings would not suffice as Canada has not enough assets in Iran that could be subject to a similar court verdict.

SS