EDITORIAL: Carney’s dangerous flip-flop on Iran
· Toronto Sun
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s support for restoring diplomatic relations with Iran, reversing a 14-year-old policy of both the Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau governments, is a terrible idea.
It would also reverse the position of his own government.
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Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told the Globe and Mail in February, when Iran was murdering, torturing and imprisoning tens of thousands of its own citizens, that: “We will not open diplomatic relationships with Iran unless there is a regime change. Period.”
Now, Carney says Canada is considering restoring diplomatic ties in order to help Canadians living in Iran who run afoul of the Islamic state’s dictators.
He linked his argument to the fact Canada is organizing a foreign aid package for Venezuela, which has suffered a deadly earthquake, another country with which Canada does not have diplomatic relations.
“Engagement is not endorsement,” Carney said. “Having an embassy, having consular services in a country does not mean we endorse the policies of that country.”
Iran funds, trains and supports terrorist groups
But in the real world, for Canada to re-open its embassy in Tehran – closed in 2012 after declaring Iran a state sponsor of terrorism – would be a huge propaganda victory for the regime.
Iran funds, trains and supports more than a dozen terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – all designated as terrorist groups by Canada.
On Jan. 8, 2020, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also designated as a terrorist organization by Canada, blew a Ukrainian civilian airliner out of the sky after it took off from Tehran airport, killing all 176 people on board, including 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents of Canada.
Our own government says Iranian intelligence services engage in transnational repression of Canadian citizens of Iranian origin, “including monitoring, harassing and intimidating” opponents of the regime.
CSIS has identified credible death threats by Iran against Canadians, including a failed attempt to assassinate former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler, who required 24/7 RCMP protection.
In 2023, an investigation by Global News reported that hundreds of operatives of the Iranian government were living in Canada and yet as of March this year, the Canadian government had deported only one Iranian official out of 24 identified as members of the terrorist IRGC.