OTTAWA – Canada's Conservative government said Friday it is shutting its embassy in Tehran and severing diplomatic relations with Iran, which Canada says is providing military assistance to Syria. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said that the Canadian embassy in Tehran will close immediately and Iranian diplomats in Canada have been given five days to leave. “The Iranian regime is providing increasing military assistance to the Assad regime; it refuses to comply with UN resolutions pertaining to its nuclear program..,” Baird said in a statement. “It is among the world's worst violators of human rights; and it shelters and materially supports terrorist groups, requiring the Government of Canada to formally list Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act.” He also warned Canadians, including dual national Canadian-Iranians, that Ottawa will not be able to provide assistance to them if they travel to Iran. There was no immediate reaction from Tehran, but Iran had already threatened “reciprocal action” in May, when Canada closed the visa section in its Iranian embassy, one used by thousands of Iranians with ties to Canada. An estimated 120,000 people of Iranian origin or descent live in Canada, according to official 2006 census data, and thousands of their relatives in Iran visit them every year. But ties between the governments are far from warm. In July, Ottawa warned Iran not to recruit agents in Canada after an Iranian envoy was quoted urging Iranian-Canadians to “occupy high-level key positions” and to “resist being melted into the dominant Canadian culture.” Ties have also been strained by Tehran's treatment of Iranian-born Canadians who traveled to visit their homeland. Iran does not recognize dual nationality and authorities have denied Canadian detainees consular protection. In April, Baird spoke out to demand clemency for a Canadian-Iranian citizen, 42-year-old Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, who was detained in Iran on suspicion of espionage in 2009 and has subsequently been sentenced to death. But Friday's stark statement marked a more definitive breakdown in ties. “The Iranian regime has shown blatant disregard for the Vienna Convention and its guarantee of protection for diplomatic personnel. Under the circumstances, Canada can no longer maintain a diplomatic presence in Iran. “Our diplomats serve Canada as civilians, and their safety is our number one priority,” Baird said. Baird said he was worried about the safety of diplomats in Tehran following attacks on the British embassy there. Britain downgraded ties with Iran following a major attack on its embassy in Tehran in November 2011, which it insists was sanctioned by Iran's ruling elite. After the attack, Britain pulled all of its diplomats out of Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats from UK soil. The statement advised Canadians in Iran needing consular assistance to try to contact the Canadian mission in Turkey. Iran is locked in a diplomatic stand-off with the West over its nuclear program. Tehran insists it has a right to enrich nuclear fuel in order to power civilian nuclear energy and research, but Washington, Israel and their allies claim it is seeking nuclear weapons capability. The United States has not had a functioning embassy in Tehran since the hostage crisis of 1979. – Agencies
