Canada's Diplomatic Disaster: Iran And
Accusations And Violations Of Diplomatic Norms
02 September 2012
By Eric
Walberg
Tehran is officially non grata in Ottawa now.
What's cooking, asks Eric Walberg
On 7 September, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird
announced that Canada is suspending all diplomatic
relations with Iran, expelling all Iranian diplomats,
closing its embassy in Tehran, and authorizing Turkey
to act on Canada's behalf for consular services there.
Baird cited Iran's enmity with Israel, its support of
Syria and terrorism. "Canada views the government of
Iran as the most significant threat to global peace
and security in the world today," Baird said at the
Asia Pacific Economic Conference in Vladivostok,
Russia.
Canada has not had a full ambassador in Iran since
2007. Relations between the two countries cooled after
Iranian-Canadian free-lance photographer Zahra Kazemi
died in Iran in 2003 under disputed circumstances, and
went from bad to worse under the Conservative
government in power in Ottawa since then.
While indeed Iran has been the nation most outspokenly
critic of Israel, and is actively working to thwart
the Western-backed insurgency in Syria, there is no
evidence of its support for "terrorism". It is in fact
the victim of terrorism on the part of Israel and the
US, which boast about assassinating Iranian nuclear
scientists and destroying Iranian computers with
viruses made-to-order, among other
officially-sponsored acts of subversion.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast
suggested that the real reason for Harper's latest
targeting of Iran was because of Iran's successful
hosting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in
Tehran in August. Leader of the Islamic Revolution
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Tehran's hosting of the
16th NAM Summit was a "humiliating defeat" for the
West.
Humiliation is indeed the operative word for Canada in
particular. The past five years of Conservative rule
in Canada under the fiercely pro-Israeli Prime
Minister Stephen Harper have brought nothing but
disgrace to Canada internationally, and this present
move adds further humiliation.
As if scripted, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu immediately commended Canada's decision.
With good cause, as it looks suspiciously like a
response to a direct Israeli request. Canadian foreign
policy is now made in consultation with Israeli
advisers under a public security cooperation
"partnership" signed in 2008 by Canada and Israel to
"protect their respective countries' population,
assets and interests from common threats". Israel
security agents now officially assist Canada's
security services, the RCMP and CSIS, in profiling
Canadians citizens who are Muslims and monitoring
individuals and/or organisations in Canada involved in
supporting the rights of Palestinians and other such
nefarious activities.
The barring of British MP George Galloway from
entering Canada in 2009 on a North American tour was
done as a result of this cooperation. Baird's claim
that Iran supports terrorism is one that Israeli
agents have been making in Ottawa under this
partnership. Harper has publicly stated he is
convinced that Iran is trying "beyond any doubt" to
develop nuclear weapons, with ‘evidence' supplied by
these advisers, though it is unlikely that such claims
convince anyone, but rather merely confirm public
perception of his devotion to Israel.
"It's hard to find a country friendlier to Israel than
Canada these days," chirped Israeli Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman on his official visit in 2010. He is
right. Stephen Harper's Conservatives
-called Israel's 2006 invasion of Lebanon a "measured
response" (Two Canadian UN peacekeepers were targeted
and killed by Israeli in the invasion. Harper refused
to protest, asking rhetorically in parliament what
they were doing there in the first place.)
-refused to condemn the invasion of Gaza in December
2008 or the siege of Gaza (the only "Nay" at the UN
Human Rights Council)
-refused to condemn the Israeli murder of nine members
of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in May 2009
-opposed an attempted IAEA probe of Israel's nuclear
facilities as part of an effort to create a
nuclear-weapons-free Middle East
-cut off UN humanitarian aid to Gaza because it was
going through the Hamas government there
-allow goods manufactured in occupied territories by
illegal settlers to be labelled "Made in Israel" under
the 1997 Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement 1997.
And as is the case in the Obama/Romney 'race' next
door, there is no peep of protest from Canada's
opposition liberals or socialists. Interim Liberal
leader Bob Rae (whose wife Arlene Perly is past vice
president of the Canadian Jewish Congress) met with
Netanyahu on his official visit to Canada in February
this year, and afterwards said the visit "gives all
Canadians the chance to reflect on the deep friendship
and strong ties between Israel and Canada".
In a bizarre non sequitur, the 'Liberal' leader added,
"Iran's regime is a threat to the security of the
region and the world. A nuclear armed Iran would mean
the threat of even greater proliferation and
instability in the region, is a direct flouting of
international law, and obviously raises the deepest
concerns in Israel for its security." Apparently a
very much 'nuclear armed Israel' which daily threatens
to bomb Iran does not raise his 'deepest concerns '
for Iran's security.
After meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres
during his official visit to Canada this May,
New Democrat leader Tom Mulcair, told the press, "My
in-laws are Holocaust survivors. Their history is part
of my daily life. That's why I am an ardent supporter
of Israel in all circumstances." Mulcair's wife,
Catherine Pinhas, was born in France to a Sephardic
Jewish family from Turkey. Canadians for Peace and
Justice in the Middle East and Independent Jewish
Voices criticized Mulcair for accepting financial
support from pro-Israel lobbyists.
So there will be little if any protest in parliament
over Harper's unprovoked violation of diplomatic
norms. In fact, rumor has it that this Canadian move
is in preparation for an Israeli-US attack on Iran,
though Baird demurred when asked about this as the
motive for advising all Canadians to leave Iran
immediately. However, the Harper government actually
supports Israel's threats of a pre-emptive air strike
against Iran as being within its rights. Minister of
State for Foreign Affairs of the Americas Peter Kent
told the G8 in Toronto in 2010, "It's a matter of
timing and it's a matter of how long we can wait
without taking more serious pre-emptive action."
It appears Ottawa is ready and willing to join Israel
in any attack. Harper has said, "An attack on Israel
is an attack on Canada." There have already been
US-conducted military 'exercises' involving Canadian
ships off Iran's coast. 160 Canadian troops have died
senselessly in Afghanistan over the past decade. Now
Harper wants them to die for Israel in an invasion of
Iran, orchestrated to look like it is in defense of
Israel.
The NAM summit clearly ruffled some feathers. Iran is
supported by the great majority of the world's people
and governments, both as a courageous opponent to US
and Israeli imperial intrigues, and as a model for
countries that want to develop independent, peaceful
nuclear power as an alternative to oil. The summit
strongly supported Iran on both counts.
Iranian leadership of NAM during the next three years
promises to be innovative and energetic. Even as Baird
embarrassed Canadians with his undocumented
accusations and violations of diplomatic norms,
Mehmanparast called on the UN to fulfill its
obligations towards Palestinians and respond
forcefully to Israel's killing of six Palestinians in
besieged Gaza last week. "As the rotating president of
NAM, the Islamic Republic of Iran expects all
international institutions affiliated to the United
Nations to adhere to their responsibilities towards
the Palestinian nation." The hysteria in Tel Aviv,
Washington, and now Ottawa is not without cause.
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