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The 9/11 Commission report, on the other hand, found “no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack.”

Lennox said the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act also functions as a kind of trade sanction.

“If Iran wants to do business with Canadian companies — if Iran wants to purchase expertise in Alberta with regards to the oil industry, for example … they need to make some provisions to resolve these types of claims,” he said.

‘Huge obstacle’

Thomas Juneau, a professor of international affairs at the University of Ottawa, said Canada-Iran relations are rocky.

The two countries haven’t had embassies in each others countries since 2012, when the Conservatives severed ties with the country. The Liberals pledged to reestablish diplomatic relations with Iran after coming to power in 2015 but have so far been unsuccessful.

One issue was the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act — which went into effect shortly before Canada severed ties with Iran.

“That was a huge obstacle, because the Iranians were saying, ‘Well we want to reopen embassies but you have to abandon that law,'” he said. “On the Canadian side, the government was saying, ‘We can’t do that’ because … abandoning a law that labels Iran a state-sponsor of terrorism is, politically, basically not feasible.”

As for what impact the Alberta decision might have on Canada-Iran relations? “Technically none,” Juneau said, “in the sense that it only adds to a background that’s already there. It’s an obstacle to the reopening of embassies that was already there.”

Juneau added there are about a dozen cases that have been brought against Iran in Canadian courts — most of them by Americans.

Lennox said he couldn’t comment on whether he knows of any Iranian government assets in Alberta. Public Safety Canada maintains a list of known Iranian state-owned property in Canada on its website, but the link to the list was broken on Wednesday.

If there are such assets in Alberta, “now we can look for them,” Lennox said.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

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