Canada, Israel show no sign of lightening tone or sanctions on Iran

ABOVE: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York

VANCOUVER – Israel will not follow the lead of the U.S. in its dealings with Iran, despite a landmark conversation last week between U.S. President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly in New York one week after Rouhani’s moderate-sounding speech to the world body and days after the first discussion between leaders of the U.S. and Iran in more than three decades.

Netanyahu called Rouhani’s recent olive branches to the U.S. and the West a “ruse” and a “charm offensive” to get international sanctions lifted.

He added the only difference between Rouhani and his Israel-bashing, Holocaust-denying predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was that “Ahmadinejad was a wolf in wolf’s clothing and Rouhani is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

READ MORE: Iran’s Rouhani signals warmer relations with West in op-ed

Netanyahu also used what may be one of the most memorable lines spoken at this year’s General Assembly.

Iran has faced strict sanctions over its nuclear program — including from Canada, which also shows no sign of opening its arms to the new president.

Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird, who met with Netanyahu in New York on Sunday, issued yet another rebuke of Rouhani’s seemingly more diplomatic ways.

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Baird said at the UN on Monday Canada would “welcome and acknowledge reform, if and when it comes.”

“Some observers see encouraging signs, but sound bites do not remove threats to global security. Kind words, a smile and a charm offensive are not a substitute for real action,” he said in his speech to the UN.

Canada slapped stricter economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic earlier this year, while Ahmadinejad was still in office, and cut off diplomatic ties back in 2012.

The sanctions put a “complete ban on imports from Iran and exports to Iran, subject to certain exemptions,” according to the Dept. of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada website.

But the sanctions, which were meant to punish Iran for failing to come to an agreement over its nuclear program, appear to have the biggest effect on Iranians — at home and abroad.

Iranian-Canadians

Foreign Affairs says on its website more than 120,000 Iranians live in Canada, primarily in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa.

Halavi explained the sanctions have prevented Iranian business owners from importing goods or transferring money to make investments in Canada. It has also made it difficult for Iranians wishing to travel back and forth between Canada and Iran, as there is no Iranian diplomatic mission in Canada.

Since Canada closed its embassy in Tehran and expelled all Iranian diplomats one year ago, Italy has represented Canadian interests in Iran, but there is no arrangement for Iranian consular services in Canada.

Halavi said he hopes Baird will backtrack on his words, as he did (slightly) when Rouhani was elected in June, and called the election results “meaningless.”

“Given the regime’s manipulation of the collective will and democratic process, the results of the June 14 vote are effectively meaningless,” Baird said.

A week later he wrote “an open letter to the people of Iran,” in which he said “we honour and respect the voices who believe that this election can be a step towards fundamental, democratic change in Iran. I congratulate them.”

Former Canadian diplomat Paul Heinbecker said Canada should be exploring Rouhani’s apparent attempts at diplomacy.

“I think we should be signaling greater openness to change in Iran,” Heinbecker said in a phone interview on Monday.

“I don’t think we should join hands and sing ‘Kumbaya.’ I don’t think we’re at that stage. But, I think it’s a good idea to express a degree of openness to dialogue,” said Heinbecker, who is now a distinguished fellow with the Centre for International Governance and Innovation.

He said Rouhani has probably cleared his positions with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, despite being in opposition to the country’s hardliners.