I guess those bodies aren't going to be repatriated.
Iran considers dual nationals aboard a Ukrainian plane that was shot down accidentally this month to be Iranian citizens, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday.
Iran does not recognize dual nationality. Many of the 176 people killed in the disaster were Iranians with dual citizenship. Canada had 57 citizens on board.
"We have informed Canada that Tehran considers dual nationals who were killed in the plane crash as Iranian citizens … Iran is mourning their deaths," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abbas Mousavi told a televised weekly news conference.
Mousavi announced that the "loved ones who have perished were Iranian" and that Iran did not accept their dual citizenships.
"According to our laws … we recognize them as Iranians. We will take measures for the victims and their families according to our own laws," he said.
In his speech, Mousavi also criticized Canada for following diplomatic pressures imposed by United States, saying Iran had announced its "readiness to have a consular section" but the requests had been ignored by the Canadian government.
Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the federal government cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012. The Liberals pledged to re-engage with the country in 2015, but to date, bilateral relations have not been renewed.
As protests erupted in Iran over the plane disaster, the British ambassador in Tehran was briefly detained. Officials said he was at an "illegal" rally, while the envoy said he was attending a vigil for victims. Britain criticized his detention.
"Iran respects all foreign diplomats in Iran as long as they do not violate international laws," Mousavi said.
Aurel Braun, professor of international relations and political science at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, said Iran's statement was tantamount to denying the Canadian citizenship of those killed.
"It complicates co-operation [with Canada] when recovering remains and investigating the crash. It just makes everything vastly more difficult," Braun told CBC News.
Refusing to acknowledge dual citizenship was a "matter of control," and a signal to those travelling the country that they are subject to the "whims of the totality of the regime's power," he said.
