Ottawa-Tehran Ties

From the G & M:

"Canada to lift sanctions against Iran, reopen Tehran embassy"

 

Canada will act “in a speedy fashion” to remove economic sanctions against Iran and normalize relations, Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion has announced. Mr. Dion told Parliament Tuesday that the Islamic Republic of Iran has met United Nations-imposed conditions to curb its nuclear program under a landmark treaty worked out between major world powers and Tehran. The United Nations has asked the countries in question to lift the sanctions related to the treaty that is designed to prevent Iran from using nuclear weapons,” he said. “Canada will lift those sanctions.” Mr. Dion said Ottawa will also reopen the Canadian embassy in Tehran, closed by the Harper government in 2012. The Tories, he said, were wrong to cut off diplomatic ties to such an important player in the Middle East. “With the misleading approach of the former government, Canada is not in Iran,” Mr. Dion said in the House of Commons in response to a question on normalizing relations. “It is not good for the people of Iran, it is not good for the promotion of human rights, it is not good for our strategic interests in the region, it is not good for Israel. It is good for nobody. We will change this policy.” A senior official told The Globe and Mail that the government “for sure would be reopening the embassy as the Prime Minister has promised to do so for more than a year.” The official did not say when diplomatic relations would be re-established. Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Rafael Barak, called Ottawa’s moves on Iran an “internal Canadian affair” but went on to warn that Iran “remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world.” “Iran is a sponsor of international terrorism, including terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, which hides more than 80,000 missiles in densely populated cities in Lebanon, targeting most of Israel,” Mr. Barak said in a statement to The Globe and Mail.

 

 

^ I recently wrote about Canada and Russia so it seems a little odd to hear about Canada and Iran so soon. The Trudeau Government may be biting more than they can chew. If they can re-establish good ties with both Russia and Iran without simply giving in to them then it could be a positive move, but if they just rush through disregard reality than it will make Canada a puppet country. ^

 

 

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-confirms-plan-to-lift-sanctions-against-iran/article28399708/