A human rights activist is dismissing Tehran's recent criticism of Canada after the murder of an Ottawa teen as politically motivated and "hypocritical."
Iran took aim at Ottawa after an Iranian-Canadian was killed in Ottawa on Dec. 6, despite the fact three males were quickly taken into custody in connection to the death.
Iran called on Canada to probe Yazdan Ghiasvand's murder and complained about Ottawa's attitude when investigating crimes against Iranian-Canadians.
Nazanin Afshin-Jam, an Iranian-Canadian human rights advocate, said the criticism is laughable.
"It is a political game. The regime would have us believe they are truly concerned for this citizen, they are playing that card," she told CTV's Canada AM.
"However it is a pure political game. They are using this as a chance to point back the finger at all Western governments that have been condemning it for decades over its human rights abuses and its continual proliferation of nuclear weapons or nuclear capabilities."
Canada in particular, she said, has criticized Iran on issues such as human rights abuses, persecution of ethnic and religious minorities.
Laureen Harper, wife of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, has repeatedly taken Iran to task over the planned stoning execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.
It's ridiculous, Afshin-Jam said, for Tehran to point fingers since it has such a poor human rights record and has been implicated in the murders of its own people.
"Iran has no place in meddling in this affair and as an Iranian-Canadian it's quite insulting," she said.
"Many Iranians have fled to come to Canada to live in this wonderful country with so much freedom and opportunity and they're trying to show their concern for this Iranian-Canadian all of a sudden. We don't buy it and we ask them to go away."
The Iranian government has summoned the Canadian charge d'affaires in Tehran over the death of Ghiasvand and has warned its citizens about the dangers of travelling to Canada.
Ghiasvand was left for dead in the city's Chinatown district, but Ottawa police have said the shooting was not gang-related.
Tehran has called on Ottawa to review the murder of Ghiasvand, according to reports from the Iranian state news agency IRNA.
According to IRNA, a top Iranian official also complained to the Canadian diplomat about Canada's "failure to arrest the criminals involved in the murders of two other Iranian nationals," who were killed last year "in cold blood in Canada," IRNA reports.
Iran's state TV, Press TV, reports the Iranian Embassy in Ottawa has also sent an official letter to the Department of Foreign Affairs "calling for the prosecution and punishment of the murderers."
A Foreign Affairs Department spokesman in Ottawa said they are looking into the reports, but had no further comment.
