Thread by @thomasjuneau

During the 2015 election campaign the Liberals pledged to reestablish diplomatic ties between Canada and Iran, severed by the Harper government. In a new article based on 23 interviews for Canadian Foreign Policy, I explain why this did not happen. Thread. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

In 2012, the Conservative Government expelled the Iranian ambassador, recalled the Canadian one (the same one who was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 2018!!) and suspended ties. The Liberals pledged to change this. The government was making some progress: throughout 2016-17...

...there many exchanges between Iranian and Canadian officials. But in June 2018 Liberal MPs voted in favor of a Conservative motion calling on the government to cease reengagement efforts - to everyone's surprise, including the Conservatives themselves and everyone...

in the bureaucracy. Four factors explain why the Liberal Government’s efforts to re-open a Canadian embassy in Tehran and to see an Iranian embassy in Ottawa did not succeed. The legacy of policies adopted by the Harper Government, first, significantly complicated re-engagement.

The Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, in particular, hampered Ottawa’s efforts. The JVTA empowers victims to sue countries listed as supporting terrorism for a terrorist act committed anywhere in the world since 1985. The govt designated two countries, Iran and Syria.

The process allows for the seizure of government (not diplomatic) property or assets owned by a listed state in Canada in connection with a judgment against it. So obviously, if you are Iran, and you are interested in reopening embassies (which Iran was), this is a big obstacle.

Serving and retired officials I interviewed confirmed (see article for more detail) diplomats from both sides were making real progress in finding creative ways around this, since delisting Iran was not an option Canada was willing to consider (straightforward procedurally...

but way too politically explosive). Basically, both countries would have opened an interest section in the other, as an interim step; a third country would have served as the protective power for the other; Oman would have done it in Ottawa, implying Iran would not have had...

government assets here that could have been seized by Cdn courts. But - a major obstacle - Canada was not abe to find a protective power to host it in Tehran. Bottomline, the JVTA did not technically block reengagement but made it much, much harder.

Second obstacle to reengagement: as had occurred in the past, the complex politics of consular cases intervened, throwing additional roadblocks. These made it politicaly very costly for the Cdn government to engage with a regime jailing and killing Cdn citizens.

That matters: as of today, Ottawa's position is that reengagement efforts are frozen until there is progress on the Maryam Mombeini case, a dual citizen whose husband was killed in an Iranian jail and who is barred from leaving Iran.

Third factor: a growing split emerged within the Liberal Party on the issue, with those opposing re-engagement gaining momentum until the June 2018 vote. Those opponents were far better organized than supporters of reengagement.

One thing that especially did not help reengagement: one of its main proponents in the party, MP Majid Jowhari, has become increasingly controversial.

Fourth and finally, even though there was a window of opportunity in 2016 during which both Canada and Iran were genuinely committed to re-engagement, it remained that, throughout the process, bilateral relations were not a priority for either side. Bandwidth was just limited.

Though the Conservatives view this outcome failure to re-open embassies as positive, it is costly for Canada: re-establishing diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic is not a major foreign policy priority, but not having an embassy in Tehran prevents Ottawa from achieving...

some interests (consular, trade, diplomatic, etc.) in the Middle East.

One important point: the US did not view sympathetically Canada's decision in 2012 to close embassies, as I detail in the article, and they did not object - including Pres Trump - to the Liberals' plan...

...to reengage. If anything, a Canadian embassy in Teran is a useful source of information for the US.

More in the long article - if you are interested in a PDF, DM me or send an email at [e-mail]