Canada Tuesday urged Tehran to end the "apparent targeting" of human rights advocates, including Iranian Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, whose private office was raided Monday by Iranian police.

"Canada is seriously concerned about (Monday's) raid and seizure of files and computers from the private office of Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi," Canadian diplomatic chief Lawrence Cannon said in a statement.

"The raid appears to be part of an effort to impede the important work being done by her and other Iranian human rights defenders."

"Canada continues to urge Iran to fully respect all of its human rights obligations, both in law and in practice, and to end the apparent targeting of human rights advocates like Ms. Ebadi," said Cannon.

Canada "stands in solidarity with individuals such as Ms. Ebadi who courageously advocate for the human rights of the people of Iran."

Iranian police raided Ebadi's private office Monday after earlier this month raiding and shutting down the office of Ebadi's Human Rights Defenders Center, signaling a toughening crackdown on rights groups in the Islamic republic.

Iranian authorities said the rights group office was shut down because the center did not have an interior ministry permit to operate.