Global Conditions Forced Canada to Improve Ties with Iran (Bahram Ghasemi, Iran Review)

Following the victory of the Liberal Party of Canada in the country’s parliamentary elections and inauguration of the new Canadian government led by Justin Trudeau, the question that has preoccupied many people is “will Iran and Canada move in the direction of détente in bilateral relations?” Since a long time ago, the young Canadian prime minister was among critics of the country’s previous conservative government’s policies, including its hostile policies toward Iran, and had promised that in case of winning elections, Tehran and Ottawa would open a new chapter in their relations. Now hopes are high about reopening of the two countries’ embassies and many people expect national flags of Iran and Canada to be hoisted in Ottawa and Tehran, respectively, following reopening of Iran's and the UK’s embassies on each other’s soils. A few days ago, the Canadian government removed part of the country’s unilateral sanctions against Iran and this measure can be a good sign of that country’s willingness to mend fences with Tehran. The future outlook of Iran's relations with Canada has been discussed in an interview with Bahram Ghasemi, Iran's former ambassador to Canada as well as the Islamic Republic’s former ambassador to Italy, Spain and Ireland. The full text of the interview follows.

http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Global-Conditions-Forced-Canada-to-Improve-Ties-with-Iran.htm