Former Diplomat Asks Ottawa to Resume Diplomatic Ties with Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A former Canadian Foreign Ministry diplomat called on Ottawa to review its unilateral decision to shut down Canada's embassy in Tehran and resume diplomatic ties with Tehran.
“Effective diplomacy is about being there. This means having a presence on the ground so that you can look, listen and speak out when necessary,” Collin Robertson said in an article published in the Canadian Globe and Mail magazine.
Robertson added, September will mark a year since we closed our Embassy in Tehran and declared Iran’s diplomats personae non gratae.
If we are serious about engaging Iran then we need to re-establish diplomatic relations, he said.
The Canadian diplomat further questioned the authenticity of Ottawa’s argument at the time over safety of the Canadian diplomats’ lives in Tehran, considering the presence of them in Iran and effective dialogue as prerequisites of Canada’s effective foreign policy.
“Withdrawal of diplomatic personnel is an extreme step that should only be done if there is a personal threat to our diplomats or when a declaration of war is imminent,” the senior analyst of the Canadian Defense and Foreign Affairs Institute stated, rejecting the Canadian government’s justification for their withdrawal.
