Iran said Canada’s “ready” to renew long-dormant diplomatic relations between the two countries, but Ottawa must be one of the first steps.
“This relationship was frozen unilaterally by Canada rather than Iran,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a recent media briefing in Tehran.
“We never welcome this decision because we don’t think it’s a decision in either of two countries,” he said.
Baghaei answered the question of CBC News’ recent coverage of Iran. In recent years, Canadian journalists’ visas have been rarely approved.
CBC News Senior International Correspondent Margaret Evans asked Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei about Tehran’s interest in restoring diplomatic relations with Ottawa since 2012.
“I think Canada is going to decide what action to do,” Baghaei said. “I think the first step they have to take is to uncover a lot of the sanctions and restrictions they have on themselves and our bilateral relations.”
Experts and Canadian diplomats think this is unlikely.
Ottawa cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012. Then Prime Minister Stephen Harper cited the Islamic Republic’s view on nuclear weapons ambitions, supporting the dictatorship since the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and persistent human rights violations.
Recent efforts to restore negotiations between Washington and Tehran on an agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions have raised hopes for ordinary Iranians eager to end their national isolation and economic pain.
Some Iranians hope Canada can return
“We have caused a lot of difficulties in exports due to these (sanctions) that these Western countries have done to us,” Rasoul Namavari said.
The businessman just bought the building of the former Canadian embassy that once held in Tehran, and now his paper company is there.
He was happy to show off his renovation work and pointed out the last remaining maple leaf from one of the windows in the former embassy.
“We keep it as a legacy of the past,” he said.
Canada began renting the building in 1974, five years before the Islamic Revolution until 2014. This seems to imply that Canada is still struggling to bet on whether to return for at least a few years.
Namavari hopes to see Canada reopen an embassy in Iran, although he is not in the building he just bought.
“(We hope) the Canadian government can return, they are for Iranian families (who) want to visit their doors.”
There are an estimated 300,000 Iranian Canadians. Iranian relatives who want to visit Canadians must go abroad to Türkiye or other countries to obtain a visa.
Although Namavari points out that he is not a politician, business owners believe Iran and the United States will reach an agreement.
This is a view shared by some analysts who say the blow to Iran’s regional allies (including the weakening of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the fall of Assad in Syria) makes it vulnerable and requires a nuclear deal more than the previous nuclear deal and Israeli military threat.
But those working for Iran’s democratic change are concerned that the possibility of improved relations with the West, however slight, may extend the lifespan of Iran’s theocratic politics rather than weaken or reform it.
Relatives of PS752 passengers demand justice
Khosro Malek is a man whose life is lost, which makes him determined to speak in records with foreign news organizations, despite potential risks.
Malik’s daughter Maryam was killed in January 2020 when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards fired two missiles in Ukrainian passenger flight PS752, taking off at Tehran Airport only six minutes after Ukrainian passenger flight PS752.
He described her as a “very kind and enthusiastic person” and she spent a lot of time helping those in need. Maryam Malek is back in Canada to study for a master’s degree in finance at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.
“We are the ones who have loved ones left the world in the most painful ways,” he told CBC News in an interview.
“Everything that was left then was crushed under the track of the bulldozer, and authorities coming to recover the remains of our loved ones.”
All 176 people on the ship were killed. Of the 167 passengers, 138 traveled to Canada through Ukraine, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.
Iran initially denies responsibility admit and Criticize human error.
Like other relatives on the ship, Malik believes that the aircraft was targeted or intentionally endangering the “transfer” of the U.S. retaliation after Iran launched ballistic missiles at U.S. troops in Iraq.
In other words, he thought it was used as a human shield.
The plane fell down just a few days later in Major Paradise in Iran. Qasem Soleimani is Killed by a U.S. drone In Iraq.
Many family members of flight PS752 reported that Iranian authorities were harassed and intimidated.
Navaz Ebrahim, president of the PS752 Pilot Family Association, lost his sister and brother-in-law on a Ukrainian International Airlines flight, which was shot dead in Tehran in 2020, killing 176 people.
“I got a call and was told I wouldn’t be able to speak,” Manick said. “Whenever we hold an anniversary ceremony, we find ourselves surrounded by security forces.”
Malek and other family members have petitioned the International Criminal Court to begin investigating the plane’s landing as a possible war crime. He was very disappointed that Canada failed to support them.
Iran said the landing was used as a “political leverage.”
There is no doubt that the situation surrounding passenger plane landing remains sensitive to Iranian authorities.
At the scene, CBC News was unwilling to ask Iranian officials.
But after a broader media briefing, we did come up with Foreign Ministry spokesman Baghaei.
He said it would be easier if Canada and Iran had diplomatic relations at the time.
“This will give both countries the opportunity to talk together rather than resort to other ways to solve this problem,” he said.
Canada is seeking responsibility to land aircraft through A Common claims of the International Court of Justice The Hague in Sweden, UK and Ukraine. Since then, Iran has obtained counterclaims.
Baghaei accused Canada of being “helpless” from the very beginning.
“And the fact that Canada and others use this issue (or abused with the right word) as a political leverage to Iran is really not helpful.”
“Most of the people who died were Iranians,” he said. “And we are very sad about this incident.
“I think what we need to do is go back to the conversation of respect to understand what has happened in the last two to three decades of relationship.”
CBC News has contacted Canada Global Affairs for a response.
Gathered at UBC Robson Square on Wednesday to mark the dark anniversary of the family and friends of those who died on PS 752 flight. As Janella Hamilton reported, it has been five years since Iranian missiles shot down the plane, and there are still many problems.
Malik said in a country he was talking about “treating sandbags on the frontline of war” that resuming ties with Iran would not change.
For him, Maryam or the others killed would not have any justice and would not have fundamental changes to Iran’s political system.
“Not only were they deprived of their right to life, but our bereavement,” he said. “The people who stayed were also deprived of our right to survive. We will never be happy again.”