Canadian lawmakers can visit Iran only after Ottawa's apology

A senior Iranian legislator reminded the Canadian government’s improper behavior towards the Iranian nationals and diplomats, and said the country's lawmakers can visit Tehran only after Ottawa extends its apology to Iran. “We announce that we are not ready to host the Canadian MPs and won’t allow them to travel to Iran due to their ugly and improper acts against our diplomats, the Iranian embassy, our assets and the Iranian students and immigrants in Canada last year,” Secretary of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Hassan Asafari told FNA on Wednesday. “As long as the Canadians don’t offer their serious and official apology to the Islamic Republic of Iran for their awkward behavior, we won’t accept to host them at all,” he added. Asafari said the Canadian lawmakers should also adopt a transparent position against their government’s animosity and improper attitude towards Tehran if they really intend to receive visa for visiting Iran. In September 2012, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, at the Asia-Pacific summit in Vladivostok, Russia, announced that Ottawa had recalled its diplomats and suspended embassy operations in Iran. Five Canadian diplomats left Iran in early September and closed the embassy in a sudden move, suspending ties with Tehran. The two sides already had low-level diplomatic ties that made it almost impossible for them to do useful work. The Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement at the time strongly criticized the closure of Canada's embassy in Tehran, describing it as an "unjustified" and "hasty" move. Also in October, an Iranian deputy foreign minister censured the Canadian government for violating the civil rights of the Iranian expatriates in Canada. “The Iranian nationals in Canada are not in good condition in terms of receiving consular services, and their civil rights are being violated by the Canadian government,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular, Parliamentary and Iranian Expatriate Affairs Hassan Qashqavi said. “Since we have no contact with Canada, not direct or through any interests section, we are concerned about the civil rights of Iranian expatriates in Canada,” he added. Qashqavi also said that even if there is a political dispute between Iran and Canada, it should not affect the legal rights of 450,000 Iranian nationals living in Canada.