Country: Iran/Canada
Families of people killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks will be able to go after Iranian government assets in Alberta after a multibillion-dollar judgment was registered in this province.
According to court records, an Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench master registered a US$7.01 billion judgment against Iran and a dozen of its agencies and state-owned companies on March 13 in Edmonton.
The originating application, filed last July, lists the government of Iran and a dozen other entities as respondents, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the National Iranian Oil Corporation, Iran Airlines and the Iranian central bank.
The original default judgment was handed down in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in October 2012, and the culmination of a legal battle that began 10 years prior.
The victims’ group later brought an application in B.C. Supreme Court under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, which the court reciprocally enforced in 2017.
Passed in 2012, the act allows foreign victims of terrorism to bring actions in Canadian courts, which can recognize and enforce foreign judgments against terrorist organizations and their state sponsors.
The Alberta application sought to have the B.C. judgment enforced in the province.
The applicants cited the New York judge, whom found they had sufficiently established, that the Islamic Republic of Iran provided material support and resources to al-Qaida for acts of terrorism was carried out on 9/11, including planning, funding and facilitation of the hijackers’ travel and training.
The 9/11 Commission reported on the other hand, no evidence was found in that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning, which later this became the 9/11 attack.”