Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion confirmed for the first time on Tuesday that not only will Canada lift its sanctions on Iran, but also that its aircraft maker, Bombardier Inc., will be allowed to export there as well. The development comes shortly after the U.S., the European Union and other major nations lifted some of their own sanctions against Tehran, according to Reuters.
"Canada will lift its sanctions but will maintain a level of mistrust for a regime that must not have nuclear weapons, a regime that is a danger to human rights and is not a friend to our allies, including Israel," Dion said, responding to questions in the House of Commons.
"We'll do it in accordance with our allies. They are keeping sanctions to be sure that Iran will not have the capacity to be involved in nuclear military measures, so we'll certainly be very responsible in our way," Dion continued, repeating his pledge but not giving a specific timeline, CBC reported.
The announcement follows the completion of the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, allowing the U.S., the EU and other major nations to begin lifting economic sanctions brought in over Iran. Furthermore, P.M. Justin Trudeau expressed willingness to restoring diplomatic relations with Iran earlier in January, saying that Tehran had made significant strides towards dismantling parts of it program ever since Canada shuttered its embassy there in 2012.
In addition to the lifting of sanctions, Bombardier will be allowed to export to Tehran, which comes after Iran announced over the weekend that it would purchase more than 160 European planes, primarily from Airbus. Dion argued that Canada's reluctance to lift sanctions after so many other countries had already done so only served to hurt Bombardier and help Airbus.
"If Airbus is able to do it, why will Bombardier not be able to do it?" Dion asked, according to CTV News. "In which way is it helping Canada, or the Iranian people, or Israel, or anyone, that Canada is hurting its own industry?"
Despite the lofty intentions, not everyone was onboard with the intended policy shift. The Conservative's foreign affairs critic, Tony Clement, spoke out against it, saying the government is "going 180 degrees in the wrong direction."
"Iran continues to be a state sponsor of terrorism, continues to deny as state policy the very existence of Israel. It continues to oppress its people," Clement said. "Now is not the time to review or remove sanctions against a country that is still not within the world family of nations that cooperates and works with other nations."