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Canada–Iran relations
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Canada–Iran relations
Canada and Iran have had no formal diplomatic relations since 2012. In the absence of diplomatic representation, Italy acts as the protecting power for Canada in Iran and Switzerland acts as Iran's protecting power in Canada.
Prior to 1955, Canadian consular and commercial affairs in Iran were conducted through the British Embassy to Iran. Foreign relations and diplomatic ties between Canada and Iran began with the founding of an Iranian mission in Ottawa in 1956, and a Canadian mission in Tehran in 1959. The Canadian mission was granted embassy status in 1961.
Formal relations between the two nations continued uninterrupted from 1955 until 1980. When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's Iranian Revolution drove the Shah from the country in 1979, the Canadian Embassy scrambled to evacuate the 850 Canadian workers in Iran while the embassy staff remained. Six American diplomats took refuge in the Canadian embassy after Iranian student protesters stormed the U.S. embassy, and the Canadian government, in coordination with the Central Intelligence Agency, safely evacuated them from the country using Canadian passports with forged Iranian visas. This covert rescue became known as the "Canadian Caper", and while it improved Canada's relations with the United States, Canada–Iran relations became more volatile. The embassy staff were quickly evacuated for fear of retribution against Canadians, and the embassy was closed in 1980.
From 1980 to 1988, under Brian Mulroney, Canada and Iran did not have diplomatic ties, though relations were not formally severed.[citation needed] The Canadian government was reluctant to reopen an embassy, both because of the history, and given the Iranian government's history of kidnapping and torturing diplomats. In 1988, the two governments agreed to resume diplomatic relations at a low level, and the Canadian embassy in Tehran was re-opened.[citation needed]
Due to rocky relations after the Iranian Revolution, Iran did not establish an embassy in Canada until 1991. Its staff, which had been living in a building on Roosevelt Avenue in Ottawa's west end, moved into 245 Metcalfe Street in the Centretown neighbourhood of Ottawa, and the mission was upgraded to embassy status. In Tehran, the Canadian Embassy had been located at 57 Shahid Sarafaz Street and Ostad Motahari Avenue. The mission was staffed by a chargé rather than a full ambassador.[citation needed]
During the tenure of prime minister Jean Chrétien, the nations formally exchanged ambassadors in 1996. Canadian concerns over human rights abuses in Iran, its record on nuclear non-proliferation, Holocaust denial and threats to destroy Israel, and its active opposition to the Middle East peace process led to a policy of "controlled engagement" by Canadian diplomats. Bilateral ties were restricted, such as preventing direct air links between the two countries or the opening of Iranian consulates and cultural centres in Canada (other than the embassy in Ottawa).
Canada has also continued to express its concern about human rights in Iran, and in particular, issues such as the independence of the judiciary, arbitrary detention, freedom of expression, treatment of women and treatment of persons belonging to religious and ethnic minorities, including Iran's small remaining Jewish community, and members of the Baháʼí Faith.
Relations between Canada and Iran drastically deteriorated in June 2003 when Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian freelance photographer from Montreal, was arrested while taking pictures outside a prison in Tehran during a student protest. Three weeks later, she was killed while in custody.
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Canada–Iran relations
Canada and Iran have had no formal diplomatic relations since 2012. In the absence of diplomatic representation, Italy acts as the protecting power for Canada in Iran and Switzerland acts as Iran's protecting power in Canada.
Prior to 1955, Canadian consular and commercial affairs in Iran were conducted through the British Embassy to Iran. Foreign relations and diplomatic ties between Canada and Iran began with the founding of an Iranian mission in Ottawa in 1956, and a Canadian mission in Tehran in 1959. The Canadian mission was granted embassy status in 1961.
Formal relations between the two nations continued uninterrupted from 1955 until 1980. When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's Iranian Revolution drove the Shah from the country in 1979, the Canadian Embassy scrambled to evacuate the 850 Canadian workers in Iran while the embassy staff remained. Six American diplomats took refuge in the Canadian embassy after Iranian student protesters stormed the U.S. embassy, and the Canadian government, in coordination with the Central Intelligence Agency, safely evacuated them from the country using Canadian passports with forged Iranian visas. This covert rescue became known as the "Canadian Caper", and while it improved Canada's relations with the United States, Canada–Iran relations became more volatile. The embassy staff were quickly evacuated for fear of retribution against Canadians, and the embassy was closed in 1980.
From 1980 to 1988, under Brian Mulroney, Canada and Iran did not have diplomatic ties, though relations were not formally severed.[citation needed] The Canadian government was reluctant to reopen an embassy, both because of the history, and given the Iranian government's history of kidnapping and torturing diplomats. In 1988, the two governments agreed to resume diplomatic relations at a low level, and the Canadian embassy in Tehran was re-opened.[citation needed]
Due to rocky relations after the Iranian Revolution, Iran did not establish an embassy in Canada until 1991. Its staff, which had been living in a building on Roosevelt Avenue in Ottawa's west end, moved into 245 Metcalfe Street in the Centretown neighbourhood of Ottawa, and the mission was upgraded to embassy status. In Tehran, the Canadian Embassy had been located at 57 Shahid Sarafaz Street and Ostad Motahari Avenue. The mission was staffed by a chargé rather than a full ambassador.[citation needed]
During the tenure of prime minister Jean Chrétien, the nations formally exchanged ambassadors in 1996. Canadian concerns over human rights abuses in Iran, its record on nuclear non-proliferation, Holocaust denial and threats to destroy Israel, and its active opposition to the Middle East peace process led to a policy of "controlled engagement" by Canadian diplomats. Bilateral ties were restricted, such as preventing direct air links between the two countries or the opening of Iranian consulates and cultural centres in Canada (other than the embassy in Ottawa).
Canada has also continued to express its concern about human rights in Iran, and in particular, issues such as the independence of the judiciary, arbitrary detention, freedom of expression, treatment of women and treatment of persons belonging to religious and ethnic minorities, including Iran's small remaining Jewish community, and members of the Baháʼí Faith.
Relations between Canada and Iran drastically deteriorated in June 2003 when Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian freelance photographer from Montreal, was arrested while taking pictures outside a prison in Tehran during a student protest. Three weeks later, she was killed while in custody.
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