CBC News, Jan 27, 2016 –  Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion says Canada will begin to lift some sanctions on Iran now that a deal has been reached to curb that country’s contentious nuclear program.
“Canada will lift its sanctions but will maintain a level of mistrust for a regime that must not have nuclear weapons, a regime that is a danger to human rights and is not a friend to our allies, including Israel,” Dion said. “We will do this with our eyes wide open.”
“We’ll do it in accordance with our allies. They are keeping sanctions to be sure that Iran will not have the capacity to be involved in nuclear military measures, so we’ll certainly be very responsible in our way,” Dion said.
The remarks came after Conservative MP Peter Kent asked Dion what the government would do about Iran, a country he called a “bad actor” and one that supports Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The Conservative’s foreign affairs critic, Tony Clement, condemned the policy shift, adding that the government is “going 180 degrees in the wrong direction.”
 
“Iran continues to be a state sponsor of terrorism, continues to deny as state policy the very existence of Israel. It continues to oppress its people,” Clement said. “Now is not the time to review or remove sanctions against a country that is still not within the world family of nations that co-operates and works with other nations.”
Kent said re-establishing relations with Iran would put Canadian workers at risk because it is “selective” in the way it protects foreign missions.
The Harper government abruptly closed the Canadian Embassy in Tehran in 2012, and expelled Iranian diplomats from Ottawa. The government also formally listed Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act.