Taking a tougher stand than the United States and other key allies, Canada is balking at removing economic sanctions against Iran until the Islamic regime fully abandons its nuclear weapons’ ambitions.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Sunday he’s “deeply skeptical” of a deal struck over the weekend with six leading powers – the United States, Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France – to restrict Iran’s nuclear program.
In doing so, Canada is staking out a position much closer to Israel, which has called the agreement a “historic mistake.”
“We have made-in-Canada foreign policy,” Mr. Baird told reporters in Ottawa. “We think past actions best predict future actions, and Iran has defied the united Nation Security Council and defied International Atomic Energy Agency. Simply put, Iran has not earned the right to have the benefit of the doubt.”
Canada would consider removing its economic sanctions against Iran when the country abandons its military nuclear program and allow full inspection of its centrifuges as well as its uranium and plutonium enrichment facilities, Mr. Baird said.
“We will evaluate this deal, not just on the merits of its words, but more importantly on its verifiable implementation and unfettered access of all Iranian nuclear facilities,” he added.
The agreement reached Sunday would limit the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for initial sanctions relief.
The United States said the deal halts advances in Iran’s nuclear program, including construction of the Arak heavy-water reactor that deeply worries the West as it could yield plutonium, another atomic bomb ingredient, once operational.
It would neutralize Iran’s stockpile of uranium refined to a concentration of 20 percent, which is a close step away from the level needed for weapons, and calls for enhanced, more frequent UN nuclear inspections, a senior U.S. official said.
A U.S. fact sheet said Iran has also committed to suspending enrichment above a fissile purity of 5 percent - the threshold suitable for running nuclear power stations, which is Iran’s stated purpose. Refined uranium also provides the fissile core of an atomic bomb if refined to a high degree.
In return, Iran could obtain access to $1.5-billion in revenue from trade in gold and precious metals and the suspension of some sanctions on its automotive sector, and see its petrochemical exports revive.
But Iranian oil exports would remain for now at their currently significantly reduced levels.
The Globe and Mail
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