Canadian Foreign Minister Calls Severing Ties with Iran a Mistake
Canadian Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion said that closing the country's embassy in Tehran and severing diplomatic relations with Iran by the previous Canadian government was a mistake.
The National Post newspaper quoted Mr. Dion as saying that with the closure of the Canadian embassy in Iran, his country was unable to protect its interests and those of its allies, Canadian families, and Iranians with Canadian citizenship in Iran.
The previous Canadian government, which had a tough stance against Iran, called Iranian diplomats in that country "undesirables" in the late summer of 2012, expelled them, and announced that "diplomatic relations between Canada and Iran have been suspended."
Since then, diplomatic relations between Iran and Canada have been severed, but with the coming to power of the new Canadian government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the announcement of Iran's comprehensive nuclear agreement with world powers, Canada has taken a softer stance towards Iran.
Iran recently confirmed that the "first round of talks between Iranian and Canadian representatives" within the framework of bilateral relations was held in New York.
In his recent statements, the Canadian Foreign Minister said that the country's government does not intend to remove Iran from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, but at the same time emphasized that considering this issue depends on Iran's future behavior.
