Montreal legal expert Vincent Valai told AFP on Tuesday that Ottawa's sanctions against Tehran have prevented Iranians seeking to invest in Canada from transferring funds as they are prohibited from opening a Canadian bank account.
Canada imposed its third round of unilateral sanctions against Iran in November. The measures are said to target “virtually all transactions” with the Islamic Republic.
Canadian banks have also indicated that they would no longer open accounts for Iranian immigrants, and thus would no longer offer them loans.
“There are many concerns among the Iranian community,” said Attorney Eiman Sadegh of Industrielle Alliance.
He also warned that the new measures could moreover hit Canadian firms exporting to Iran and importing Iranian products.
Senior American officials and the Israeli regime have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike against the Islamic Republic, citing its thriving and increasingly self-sufficient nuclear program.
Despite the widely publicized claims by the US, Israel and some of their European allies that Iran's nuclear program may include a military diversion, Iran steadfastly insists on its civilian nature, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never pointed to any evidence indicating that Tehran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
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Experts say Canada's US-sponsored sanctions against Iran may cost the North American country millions of dollars since the restrictive measures would bar potential Iranian financiers from investing in Canada.
News ID 181320
