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CBC
10 hours ago
- Politics
- CBC
With no embassy in Tehran, Canada reacts to turmoil in Iran from afar
Social Sharing Neither Israel nor Iran is backing down from an escalating conflict that has endangered civilians in both countries, and because Canada has no embassy in Iran, Ottawa is having to work from afar to support thousands of Canadian citizens stuck there. While Canada has an embassy in Israel, it severed diplomatic relations with Tehran more than a decade ago. Though having an embassy presence would provide Canada with certain advantages, analysts and observers say there are limits in what can be done on the ground with so much chaos unfolding. WATCH | Urgent talks at a tense time: Talks and tensions: The CBC's Natasha Fatah talks with former U.S. ambassador Philip Reeker 12 hours ago Duration 8:40 European officials urged Iran to restrict its nuclear program hoping for off-ramp from conflict before President Trump decides whether to join Israel's bombing campaign. Get the latest on the CBC News App, and CBC News Network for breaking news and analysis That said, Bruce Mabley, a retired diplomat whose postings included stints in the Middle East, says having a diplomatic presence at least allows both countries to potentially talk to one another. "It's stupid not to be there," he said. A long way to the border Global Affairs Canada did not respond to questions from CBC News about how the lack of an embassy presence was impacting Ottawa's efforts to support Canadians inside Iran. But even if Canada did have an embassy in Tehran right now, that wouldn't change the fact that flights aren't leaving the capital. Both Iran and Israel had closed their airspaces while launching numerous attacks over the last week, though Iran recently allowed an Indian flight to leave from another part of the country, and several more were reportedly expected to follow. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has publicly urged Canadians fleeing both Israel and Iran to head to Jordan, Armenia and Turkey. But the journey to neighbouring nations of Turkey or Armenia is a long one for anyone living in the Iranian capital, which is hundreds of kilometres from either of those destinations. "The border is really far away," said University of Toronto history professor Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, who was born in Tehran and has family still in Iran. He says the roads out of the Iranian capital have been jammed with people trying to flee, making that route out more difficult. A tense journey One of his students, Hanieh Bakhtiari, recently travelled back to Iran to visit her parents, and the fighting started days after she arrived. Bakhtiari and her partner fled the country on a bus, in a tense, 11-hour journey to Turkey, during which she says she was "constantly watching" the skies for potential attacks. "We were … very much scared of being attacked while we were on the road," said Bakhtiari, who spoke to CBC's As It Happens about her journey out of Iran. Israel began a wave of attacks on June 13, targeting Iranian military and nuclear sites with airstrikes that have killed high-ranking Iranian generals and nuclear scientists. The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists in Iran says that as of Thursday, at least 657 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks, and of those, at least 263 were civilians. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes, which the Israeli military estimates have involved at least 450 missiles and 1,000 drones. At least two dozen people in Israel have been killed. The Israeli push against Iran may draw U.S. involvement, though U.S. President Donald Trump has delayed making a decision. WATCH | From 2013, a look at the top-secret closure of Canada's Embassy in Iran: Inside Canada's top-secret diplomatic exit from Iran 12 years ago Duration 4:26 One year later, CBC's Terry Milewski has exclusive new details The costs of cutting ties Opinions are split among observers on whether it would be better for Canada to have an embassy in Tehran. "Having an embassy in Tehran would not be a panacea," said Peter G. Bates, a retired Canadian diplomat who was twice posted to Tehran and helped close the Canadian embassy there in 2012. Phil Gurski, a former Iran intelligence analyst for Canadian spy agencies, finds himself "on both sides" of the debate. On one hand, he says there's a point where a line is crossed that cannot be tolerated, but when an embassy gets shut down and ties are cut, "you're essentially flying blind." Gurski says there are other ways for the government to monitor events in Iran — including reviewing information from satellites, the use of signals intelligence, or conferring with friendly embassies about what's unfolding on the ground. Gurski, Mabley and Bates all note that when an embassy is closed, a government will typically ask an ally with an embassy presence in that same region to provide support in its absence. However, any friendly embassy doing favours for Canada will expectedly prioritize the needs of its own citizens first. And as things escalate between Israel and Iran, any such ally may also be getting similar requests from other nations that don't have a diplomatic presence in Tehran. U of T's Tavakoli-Targhi sees a clear benefit that an embassy provides, beyond giving diplomatic staff better access to citizens abroad.
Khaleej Times
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Iran, Israel launch new attacks after Tehran rules out nuclear talks
[Editor's Note: Follow the KT live blog for live updates on the Israel-Iran conflict.] Iran and Israel exchanged fresh attacks early on Saturday, a day after Tehran said it would not negotiate over its nuclear programme while under threat and Europe tried to keep peace talks alive. Shortly after 2:30 am in Israel (2330 GMT on Friday), the Israeli military warned of an incoming missile barrage from Iran, triggering air raid sirens across parts of central Israel, including Tel Aviv, as well as in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Interceptions were visible in the sky over Tel Aviv, with explosions echoing across the metropolitan area as Israel's air defence systems responded. At the same time, Israel launched a new wave of attacks against missile storage and launch infrastructure sites in Iran, the Israeli military said. Sirens also sounded in southern Israel, said Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency service. An Israeli military official said Iran had fired five ballistic missiles and that there were no immediate indications of any missile impacts. There were no initial reports of casualties. The emergency service released images showing a fire on the roof of a multi-storey residential building in central Israel. Local media reported that the fire was caused by debris from an intercepted missile. Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying its longtime enemy was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes, retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. It neither confirms nor denies this. Its air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based human rights organisation that tracks Iran. The dead include the military's top echelon and nuclear scientists. In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed in Iranian missile attacks, according to authorities. Reuters could not independently verify casualty figures for either side. Iran has repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv, a metropolitan area of around 4 million people and the country's business and economic hub, where some critical military assets are also located. Israel said it had struck dozens of military targets on Friday, including missile production sites, a research body it said was involved in nuclear weapons development in Tehran and military facilities in western and central Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said there was no room for negotiations with the US "until Israeli aggression stops". But he arrived in Geneva on Friday for talks with European foreign ministers at which Europe hopes to establish a path back to diplomacy. US President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated that he would take as long as two weeks to decide whether the United States should enter the conflict on Israel's side, enough time "to see whether or not people come to their senses", he said. Trump said he was unlikely to press Israel to scale back its airstrikes to allow negotiations to continue. "I think it's very hard to make that request right now. If somebody is winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing, but we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens," he said. The Geneva talks produced little signs of progress, and Trump said he doubted negotiators would be able to secure a ceasefire. "Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one," Trump said. Hundreds of U.S. citizens have fled Iran since the air war began, according to a U.S. State Department cable seen by Reuters. Israel's envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told the Security Council on Friday his country would not stop its attacks "until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled". Iran's U.N. envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called for Security Council action and said Tehran was alarmed by reports that the U.S. might join the war. Russia and China demanded immediate de-escalation.
CNN
a day ago
- Politics
- CNN
Trump's Gulf Arab allies race to avoid all-out war in Iran
Fearing the repercussions of a total regime collapse in Iran, Gulf Arab states have intensified their outreach to the Trump administration and Tehran over the past week. The United Arab Emirates, a US ally that has long been opposed to an unsupervised Iran nuclear program, has been in contact with officials in Tehran and Washington to avoid further escalation, according to a top official, amid fears that instability in Iran could affect the region. 'We're following the situation very closely… our diplomacy is working hard like many other countries,' Anwar Gargash, adviser to the UAE president, said on Friday. 'Concerns have to be resolved diplomatically… there are many issues in the region (and) if we choose to tackle everything with a hammer, nothing will be left unbroken.' Israel began an unprecedented attack on Iran last week, killing its top military brass as well as several nuclear scientists and destroyed part of its nuclear program. Iran has responded with a barrage of missile strikes on Israeli cities. Gargash, who delivered a letter from US President Donald Trump to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in March calling for nuclear talks, said any military escalation to the conflict will be 'detrimental' for the whole region. 'This is setting us back. The language of conflict is overpowering the new language of de-escalation and economic prosperity for the region,' Gargash said. Across the Gulf, growing anxiety about the conflict is driving efforts to prevent further escalation. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Trump and called for a de-escalation hours after Israel struck Iran on June 13. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, also spoke to the president and called for the crisis to be resolved 'through diplomatic means.' 'We have been making all the possible communication between all the parties regionally and abroad. These talks between us have been about finding a way out of the rabbit hole when it comes to this escalation,' the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said Tuesday. Last month, Trump was feted with grand welcomes and trillion-dollar deals when he visited three Gulf Arab nations for the first presidential visit of his second term. At the time, Trump praised the 'birth of a modern Middle East' and signaled his intent to sign a deal with Iran to prevent it from building a nuclear bomb. But after Israel struck and killed Iran's military leadership and nuclear scientists, Trump shifted his rhetoric, teasing a possible US military intervention on Iran. The president's threats have his Arab allies worried and fearing Iranian reprisal attacks against the US on their soil, where the US has a significant military presence. Major exporters of energy, the Gulf states also fear that Iran may shut the Strait of Hormuz on its southern shore, through which a third of seaborne oil passes. Gulf Arab states, long critical of Iran's nuclear ambitions and its support for proxy militias across the Middle East, have in recent years softened their stance toward Tehran, pivoting toward diplomacy and rapprochement to avoid conflict. Experts warn that a US attack on Iran could draw it into a quagmire even more challenging than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – a drawn-out confrontation that could last the duration of Trump's presidency and exact a heavy toll on American lives and resources at Israel's behest. 'Iran is large and could be fractured and divided along ethnic lines, (and it) has a considerable stockpile of missiles, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles)… that essentially could fall out of central state control,' Hasan Alhasan, senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain, told CNN. 'I don't think anyone wants to see Iran slide to chaos, I think there is a broader desire and preference to deal with one bad actor rather than multiple bad actors,' he said. Firas Maksad, managing director for the Middle East at Eurasia Group, told CNN that Gulf Arab states are in a comfortable position seeing Iran weakened, but would much rather prefer diplomacy to avoid instability in the region. 'If there is in fact a diplomatic breakthrough… where Iran's nuclear ambitions towards a nuclear weapon at least are capped, Iran is much weakened and stability returns, that's a very positive outcome for (Gulf states),' he said. 'I would have to say, though, that the concern is that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu drags the region and drags President Trump into further escalation by perhaps taking out Iran's ability to export oil,' he added. 'That might then take us in a much more negative direction in terms of blowback against Gulf (oil) facilities.' Trump's announcement on Thursday of a two-week diplomatic window now offers his Gulf Arab allies breathing space to push for de-escalation, following a week of unprecedented regional clashes that left the Middle East rattled and on edge.
CNN
a day ago
- Politics
- CNN
Trump's Gulf Arab allies race to avoid all-out war in Iran
Fearing the repercussions of a total regime collapse in Iran, Gulf Arab states have intensified their outreach to the Trump administration and Tehran over the past week. The United Arab Emirates, a US ally that has long been opposed to an unsupervised Iran nuclear program, has been in contact with officials in Tehran and Washington to avoid further escalation, according to a top official, amid fears that instability in Iran could affect the region. 'We're following the situation very closely… our diplomacy is working hard like many other countries,' Anwar Gargash, adviser to the UAE president, said on Friday. 'Concerns have to be resolved diplomatically… there are many issues in the region (and) if we choose to tackle everything with a hammer, nothing will be left unbroken.' Israel began an unprecedented attack on Iran last week, killing its top military brass as well as several nuclear scientists and destroyed part of its nuclear program. Iran has responded with a barrage of missile strikes on Israeli cities. Gargash, who delivered a letter from US President Donald Trump to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in March calling for nuclear talks, said any military escalation to the conflict will be 'detrimental' for the whole region. 'This is setting us back. The language of conflict is overpowering the new language of de-escalation and economic prosperity for the region,' Gargash said. Across the Gulf, growing anxiety about the conflict is driving efforts to prevent further escalation. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Trump and called for a de-escalation hours after Israel struck Iran on June 13. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, also spoke to the president and called for the crisis to be resolved 'through diplomatic means.' 'We have been making all the possible communication between all the parties regionally and abroad. These talks between us have been about finding a way out of the rabbit hole when it comes to this escalation,' the Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said Tuesday. Last month, Trump was feted with grand welcomes and trillion-dollar deals when he visited three Gulf Arab nations for the first presidential visit of his second term. At the time, Trump praised the 'birth of a modern Middle East' and signaled his intent to sign a deal with Iran to prevent it from building a nuclear bomb. But after Israel struck and killed Iran's military leadership and nuclear scientists, Trump shifted his rhetoric, teasing a possible US military intervention on Iran. The president's threats have his Arab allies worried and fearing Iranian reprisal attacks against the US on their soil, where the US has a significant military presence. Major exporters of energy, the Gulf states also fear that Iran may shut the Strait of Hormuz on its southern shore, through which a third of seaborne oil passes. Gulf Arab states, long critical of Iran's nuclear ambitions and its support for proxy militias across the Middle East, have in recent years softened their stance toward Tehran, pivoting toward diplomacy and rapprochement to avoid conflict. Experts warn that a US attack on Iran could draw it into a quagmire even more challenging than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – a drawn-out confrontation that could last the duration of Trump's presidency and exact a heavy toll on American lives and resources at Israel's behest. 'Iran is large and could be fractured and divided along ethnic lines, (and it) has a considerable stockpile of missiles, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles)… that essentially could fall out of central state control,' Hasan Alhasan, senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain, told CNN. 'I don't think anyone wants to see Iran slide to chaos, I think there is a broader desire and preference to deal with one bad actor rather than multiple bad actors,' he said. Firas Maksad, managing director for the Middle East at Eurasia Group, told CNN that Gulf Arab states are in a comfortable position seeing Iran weakened, but would much rather prefer diplomacy to avoid instability in the region. 'If there is in fact a diplomatic breakthrough… where Iran's nuclear ambitions towards a nuclear weapon at least are capped, Iran is much weakened and stability returns, that's a very positive outcome for (Gulf states),' he said. 'I would have to say, though, that the concern is that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu drags the region and drags President Trump into further escalation by perhaps taking out Iran's ability to export oil,' he added. 'That might then take us in a much more negative direction in terms of blowback against Gulf (oil) facilities.' Trump's announcement on Thursday of a two-week diplomatic window now offers his Gulf Arab allies breathing space to push for de-escalation, following a week of unprecedented regional clashes that left the Middle East rattled and on edge.
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Trump Signals He'll Hold Off Iran Strike, Give Diplomacy Time
Bloomberg's Dan Williams talks the latest in the conflict between Israel and Iran as missile strikes out of Iran appear to taper off. President Donald Trump is still weighing options for direct strikes on Iran's nuclear program, but signaled that he will take up to two weeks to make that decision. (Source: Bloomberg)
