Canada has no plans to re-engage with Iran, Anita Anand says

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada is not open to re-establishing diplomatic ties with Iran at this time.

Anand told the Senate’s foreign affairs committee Thursday that Canada’s focus with Iran is on limiting the possibility of Tehran obtaining nuclear weapons.

The Harper government cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012 and Sen. Peter Harder says this has limited Canada’s ability to collect intelligence in the country on behalf of its allies.

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Anand also pushed back on senators who claimed that Canada has abandoned its human rights focus in its pursuit of investment from Gulf nations.

Sen. Mary Coyle says Anand was evasive when the senator asked why Prime Minister Mark Carney no longer refers to Canada as having a feminist foreign policy, to which Anand said Canada still brings forward human rights concerns in its diplomacy.

Anand will face more questions this afternoon at the House foreign affairs committee.

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