In the case announced by the International Court of Justice on Wednesday, Tehran argues that Canada is “obliged to respect Iran’s judicial immunity under international law” and that it should not allow civil suits against Iran “for alleged support of terrorism or acts of terrorism”.

Canada also should not allow its courts to recognize foreign judgments in Iran-related terrorism cases and does not have the right to seize Iranian property to enforce such judgments, the document says.

Among the Canadian cases cited in the Iranian document is an Ontario Supreme Court ruling that the Iranian army’s January 8, 2020, destruction of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 with two surface-to-air missiles was an “act of terrorism.” All 176 people on board were killed.

More than 100 of the Iranian victims had Canadian citizenship or residency, prompting some victims’ families to sue Iran in Canadian civil court.

Classifying this event as an act of terrorism allowed a group of families to circumvent Iran’s legal immunity and claim compensation for their losses. Foreign countries are generally immune from prosecution in Canadian courts.

The court awarded the families that filed the Ontario lawsuit a total of CAN107 million – CAN7 million in compensatory damages, in addition to CAN100 million in punitive damages – plus interest.

Hours before the accident, Iran fired ballistic missiles at American bases in Iraq in retaliation for the American drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.

After several days of denials, the Revolutionary Guards, an Iranian paramilitary organization, publicly apologized and blamed the incident on an air defense operator who authorities said mistook the Boeing 737-800 for a missile. American cruise ship.

The proceedings initiated by Iran at the International Court of Justice, based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, are expected to drag on for years. The court’s decisions are final and legally binding.