Rouhani has an egregious human rights record as well, controverting his reputation in the West as a moderate. Tehran’s regional aggression and domestic repression continued under Rouhani’s presidency, and he served on Iran’s national security council during the 1988 massacre, making him complicit in the bloodshed. In contrast to Raisi, however, Rouhani has largely managed to escape Western opprobrium by employing moderate rhetoric and making frequent — and unfulfilled — promises to improve human rights in Iran.
July 15, 2021 | National Post
Canadian government policy is strengthening Iran’s malign regime
Canada should rescind its support for reviving the JCPOA nuclear deal and demand Tehran address the full range of its malevolent conduct
July 15, 2021 | National Post
Canadian government policy is strengthening Iran’s malign regime
Canada should rescind its support for reviving the JCPOA nuclear deal and demand Tehran address the full range of its malevolent conduct
It’s a moment of reckoning for Canadian policy toward Iran.
Iran has elected — or, more precisely, Tehran has selected — Ebrahim Raisi, the “hanging judge,” as the country’s next president. On June 18, a minority of Iranians — just 48.8 per cent — went to the polls to choose their preferred candidate from a slate of four handpicked by the regime. It wasn’t much of a choice: Each contender embraced the radical creed of the Islamic Revolution, professing loyalty to Iran’s ultimate decision-maker, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Only days later, the Canadian government released a report holding Tehran responsible for the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 on Jan. 8, 2020. The shootdown killed 176 people, including 85 Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Commenting on the report, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the government of Tehran of “recklessness, incompetence, and wanton disregard for human life.”
It’s a moment of reckoning for Canadian policy toward Iran
And on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had indicted four Iranian intelligence agents plotting to abduct Iranian journalist and human rights activist Masih Alinejad, who lives in New York, and take her to Iran. The court indictment indicated the planned kidnapping was part of a larger plot to lure activists critical of the Iranian government to that country, including three unnamed Canadians. All four suspects in the Alinejad kidnapping plot remain at large in Iran.
These three developments, though unconnected on the surface, lead to a shared conclusion: No longer can Ottawa maintain the illusion of a split in Iran’s government between so-called “moderates,” like Hassan Rouhani, and “hardliners,” such as Raisi. In fact, this misperception has led Canada to favour policies easing pressure on Iran, contributing to the impunity that Tehran currently enjoys for its malign conduct, including the downing of Flight PS752 and the plot against Alinejad.
Of the four candidates who ran for Iranian office, Raisi deservedly bears the most notoriety. In a career spanning four decades, mostly in Iran’s judiciary, he has presided over the incarceration, torture and execution of countless political prisoners. In particular, he played a leading role in the 1988 massacre of thousands of jailed dissidents.
Unfortunately, Ottawa is inadvertently facilitating Tehran’s misconduct.
In a June 13 meeting, the Group of 7 (G7) — an inter-governmental organization consisting of the world’s most advanced economies, including Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — issued a joint statement expressing support for ongoing talks between Washington and Tehran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. A return to the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), could “pave the way to further address regional and security concerns,” the statement said, including Tehran’s support for “proxy forces and non-state armed actors” as well as its “ballistic missile activities.”
But Raisi — like Rouhani before him — has already rejected these demands. “Regional and missile issues are not negotiable,” said Raisi on June 20, echoing an assertion by Rouhani last year. “The U.S. tried for months to include the missiles program and we told them it’s non-negotiable,” Rouhani said. “They tried for months to include regional issues as well. They were all discussed and rejected.”
The shared intransigence of Rouhani and Raisi reflects the supreme leader’s negotiating strategy. After all, if the United States rejoins the JCPOA, Washington will have surrendered its robust economic leverage, leaving Tehran with no incentive to negotiate a stronger and broader deal. The Islamist regime resumed talks with America this year only in order to garner sanctions relief. Once Iran receives that relief, why would it want or need to negotiate with America over Tehran’s regional influence and ballistic missile program?
Thus, over the past weeks of negotiations, Iran has exploited Washington’s eagerness to revive the JCPOA by pressing U.S. negotiators for sanctions relief far broader than what the nuclear deal originally required. As a condition for re-entering the accord, both Rouhani and Raisi have called for the revocation of all sanctions that any U.S. administration has imposed on the country, including penalties on Tehran’s ballistic missile program, human rights abuses, and support for terrorist groups.
Iran has exploited Washington’s eagerness to revive the JCPOA
By joining the G7 statement, Canada lends credence to the ill-advised notion that a renewal of the JCPOA could serve as the basis for a stronger and broader deal. Instead, it would shower Iran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief that it could use to fuel its aggression both at home and abroad, thereby weakening Ottawa’s ability to hold Iran accountable for the downing of Flight PS752.
It shouldn’t take the election of two presidents with blood on their hands, or the downing of a civilian airliner, or the plotted kidnapping of human rights activists, including Canadians, to recognize the true nature of Iran’s regime. But with Raisi occupying the presidency, the regime has presented an undeniable reminder of its massive human rights violations. Canada should act accordingly by rescinding its support for reviving the JCPOA. Instead, at this moment of reckoning, Ottawa should make clear that Tehran must negotiate a new deal that addresses the full range of its malign conduct.
Tzvi Kahn is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington, D.C.-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy. Follow him on Twitter @TzviKahn.