Canada’s Foreign Minister Calls Severing Ties with Iran a Mistake
Stephane Dion, Canada’s Foreign Minister, stated that the closure of his country’s embassy in Tehran and the severance of diplomatic relations with Iran by Canada’s previous government was a mistake.
According to the National Post, citing Dion’s remarks, with the closure of Canada’s embassy in Iran, his country has been unable to protect its interests and those of its allies, as well as Canadian families and Iranians holding Canadian citizenship in Iran.
The previous Canadian government, which maintained a hardline stance toward Iran, in late summer 2012 declared Iranian diplomats in the country “persona non grata,” and while expelling them, announced that “diplomatic relations between Canada and Iran have been suspended.”
Since that time until now, diplomatic relations between Iran and Canada have remained severed, but with the arrival of Canada’s new government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the announcement of the comprehensive nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, Canada has adopted a more moderate stance toward Iran.
Iran recently confirmed that “the first round of talks between representatives of Iran and Canada” within the framework of bilateral relations took place in New York.
Canada’s Foreign Minister in his recent remarks stated that his country’s government does not intend to remove Iran from the list of countries supporting terrorism, but at the same time emphasized that the review of this matter depends on Iran’s future conduct.
