Oh My!

The shit has hit the fan:

Activist welcomes Canada's tough stance on Iran

"Maryam Nayeb Yazdi, a spokeswoman for the Free Saeed Malekpour Campaign and editor-in-chief of Persian2English.com, a blog which aims to expose Iran’s human rights violations, says "Canada's move is a good start to pave the way for an end to western appeasement policies with the Iranian regime.

"I am grateful for the vigilance that the Canadian government has shown," she told QMI Agency in an interview Sunday. "Over time, it has been proven that the Iranian regime is a threat to global security and has no regard for the civil or human rights of Iranian citizens or people living in other nations. This is a great first step by Canada, but we have a long way to go.""

[---]

"Yazdi says the Iranian regime continues to bully the rest of the world, adding that "everyone should stand strong against bullies, like the Canadian government has.""

Iran slams Canada for breaking off relations

"Canada closed its Tehran embassy on Friday and ordered Iranian diplomats be expelled, in a severance of ties in which it accused the Islamic Republic of being the biggest threat to world peace.

Mehmanparast, quoted by the ISNA news agency, retorted: “Canada’s current government is an extremist government … influenced by the Zionist regime (Israel), which takes measures to put pressure on the Iranian people and create problems for nationals of our country.”"

Riiight!

Iran lashes out at Canada’s ‘racist government’ after embassy closure

"Having just sent Iran’s diplomats’ packing and having brought its own diplomats home from Iran last week, Canada will keep trying to aid Canadian citizens there — including three on death-row — with the help of its partners and allies, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday."

[---]

"The federal government announced Friday in Vladivostok that it was closing the Canadian Embassy in Tehran and expelling Iran’s diplomats from Ottawa.

“We have terminated our diplomatic presence there precisely because we are concerned by the behaviour and the capacity for increasingly bad behaviour of the government of Iran,” Harper said, without elaborating on what exactly he meant by that."

[---]

"“The current government of Canada under the leadership of Mr. Stephen Harper is known for extreme policies in the domain of foreign policy,” the Mehr news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying.

“The hostile behaviour of the current racist government in Canada in reality follows the policies dictated by the Zionists (Israel) and the British.”

Canada’s decision to expel Iranian diplomats and cut all official ties in Iran was the result of what Mehmanprast called “hostile behaviour” that had been encouraged, he said, by Israel and Britain.

Iran was harshly condemned by Harper in Vladivostok for developing what he believes is a military nuclear capability, for its anti-Semitic and genocidal threats against Israel and for its arming of the Bashar Assad regime in Syria.

“Do I anticipate specific actions? No, not necessarily,” Harper said, when discussing possible Iranian reprisals against Canada for having cut diplomatic ties. “But we know this is a country that doe not stop at anything. That is just the reality of the situation…Nothing (Iran might do) would surprise me. That is all the more reason why it is essential that our Canadian personnel no longer be present.”"

Harper says nothing Iran does in wake of embassy closing would surprise him

"With Iran branding his government a hostile stooge of Israel and Britain, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday that nothing Iran does in response to Canada’s severing of diplomatic ties would surprise him.

Harper also pledged that Canada will work through its allies to help three of its citizens still in Iranian prisons. Questions surrounding their fate have become a live issue following Canada’s abrupt decision to close its Tehran embassy and expel Iranian diplomats from Canada.

An Iranian lawmaker said his government would have a firm response, while a foreign ministry spokesman called the Harper government hostile and racist, and accused it of doing the bidding of Israel and Britain, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.

Harper said Canadian diplomats were recalled because of Iran’s “capacity for increasingly bad behaviour.”

“So, nothing would surprise me. But that is all the more reason why it’s essential that our Canadian personnel no longer be present,” Harper told reporters on the final day of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit.

“Do I anticipate specific actions? No, not necessarily, but as I say, we should all know by now that this is a regime that does not stop at anything. So that’s just the reality of the situation.”"

Iran embassy closure not prompted by any known military action, Baird says

"The abrupt decision to close the Canadian embassy in Tehran was not prompted by any known military threat against Iran, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said on Sunday.

“I can confirm that we have no knowledge whatsoever of any outside military action, whether it’s from the United States or from Israel,” Baird told CTV’s Question Period.

[---]

"Baird, who is in Russia attending an APEC summit with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, announced on Friday that Canada was closing its embassy in Tehran, primarily over fears for the safety of Canadian diplomats.

In addition, Baird said Friday that all Iranian diplomats in Canada had been ordered out of the country within the next five days. The government also officially listed Iran as a terrorist state, meaning victims of terrorism can sue the Islamic Republic under Canadian law.

Baird did not specify what threats Canadian diplomats are facing, prompting rampant speculation among analysts. And again on Sunday, Baird declined to comment on any specific security assessments and cited the safety of Canadian diplomats as the reason behind the decision.

“We have real concerns about the state of security. Our embassy is right on the street. It’s not normally what we would like to have at such a dangerous position,” Baird said Sunday.

“So at the end of the day, that coupled with the anti-Semitic rhetoric of the government, their nuclear program and other issues caused us to want to ensure that our Canadian staff were safe.”

The safety of foreign diplomats in Iran has been an issue going back to the 1979 Iranian revolution, in which more than 50 U.S. diplomats were held hostage for 444 days. More recently, protesters stormed the British embassy in November after the United Kingdom tightened sanctions against the country, including targeting its central bank.

“There is no doubt that Iran is a sponsor of terrorism. I think we have to speak the truth, we have to be honest, we have to be upfront, and we’re doing that,” Baird said.

Well there goes my theory. Not.



I wonder if Peter MacKay's wife had any role in this? Of course, the MSM is salivating about something else in this regard. She's one gutsy lady.

Anyway, it's back to business as usual:

Larijani: Iran-Russia Strategic Ties Play Crucial Role in Regional Security