Reprinted from Yves Engler’s website.
Canadian PM Mark Carney has blamed Iran for Israel’s aggression. The prime minister’s statement fits a long Canadian pattern of unwarranted criticism and isolation that must be challenged.
In response to Israel killing 78 in yet another brazen violation of international law, Carney declared, “Iran’s nuclear program has long been a cause of grave concern, and its missile attacks across Israel threaten regional peace…. Canada reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself and to ensure its security.”
Labeling the destruction of multiple buildings in Tehran and the assassination of numerous scientists and military officials as “defending itself” is absurd. Concurrently, is Carney “gravely concerned” about Israel’s significant nuclear arms stockpile? Iran has supported a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region, which Israel opposes.
Hopefully, Iran’s immediate response to Israel will deter Tel Aviv from putting its population and the region into further peril. But Israel seems drunk on power and deeply committed to a might-makes-right philosophy. It has already launched more attacks and it appears the war is set to escalate further, possibly spiraling out of control.
As I detailed in Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid, Canada has long enabled Israeli colonialism and violence. Specifically, Ottawa has emboldened Tel Aviv to attack Iran by its aggressive criticism and bid to isolate the country of 90 million.
Canadian officials previously blamed Iran for Israel attacking it. When Israel instigated a smaller round of attacks eight months ago then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also justified the violence against Iran. After the Israeli aggression in October Trudeau declared, “It is further destabilizing action by this terrorist regime in the region, putting civilians at risk, running the risk of a wider war.” (For his part, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre called for Israel to pre-emptively bomb Iranian nuclear energy facilities, saying it would be “a gift by the Jewish state to humanity.” Yesterday Poilievre and his wife re-posted that highly controversial clip.)
Over the past 13 years Ottawa has severed diplomatic relations with Tehran, labelled Iran a state sponsor of terrorism and listed its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. Ottawa has also introduced multiple rounds of sanctions against Iranian individuals and institutions and has violated international norms by allowing Iranian government assets in Canada to be seized.
In response to Israel’s latest round of aggression, anti-war activists should push a major shift in Canadian relations with Iran. Here are eight measures to re-found relations:
- Restart diplomatic relations with Tehran. Before winning office, the Liberals promised to reverse Stephen Harper’s policy but when Trudeau’s initial foreign minister, Stephane Dion, sought to renew relations, his plan was scuttled by the Israel lobby working through its allies in the Liberal caucus (Anthony Housefather and Michael Levitt).
- Remove Iran from Canada’s state sponsors of terror list, which Harper created in 2012 to hamstring future governments’ efforts to restart relations. If the US and Israel aren’t on the terror list, why is Iran?
- Remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from Canada’s terrorist list. This year-old decision was a direct sop to Israel and should never have been made. If the Israeli military isn’t listed, why is part of Iran’s?
- Repeal a host of sanctions imposed on Iranian individuals and entities.
- Return Iranian assets that have been seized or commandeered in violation of international norms.
- Redeploy any Canadian soldiers in the region that may be assisting the US or Israel in striking Iran.
- Stop politicizing the flight PS752 tragedy. The Iranians erred gravely in shooting down the flight from Tehran to Kyiv with many Canadians aboard, but it was the US assassination of general Qasem Soleimani that spurred the tragedy.
- Apologize for contributing to the overthrow of Iran’s nascent democracy and initiate a full accounting of Ottawa’s role in the 1953 coup against Prime Minster Mohammad Mossadegh.
Canadian officials have repeatedly criticized Iran for its democratic deficiencies even though Ottawa backed the US and Britain’s overthrow of Iran’s first popularly elected prime minister. As part of its drive to topple the nationalist leader the British organized an embargo of Iranian oil, which Ottawa followed. A series of internal communication show that Canadian officials opposed Mossadegh and Ottawa established diplomatic relations with Iran soon after, deepening ties to the brutal shah’s 26-year dictatorship.
The best way to stop Israel’s war on Iran is for Canada to stop contributing to it.
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Yves Engler is the author of Stand on Guard for Whom? A People’s History of the Canadian Military and twelve other books.
