Posted on 05/24/2006 11:51:54 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Canada's ambassador to Iran was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in apparent diplomatic fallout from remarks by Prime Minister Stephen Harper after a Canadian newspaper report suggested religious minorities in Iran would be forced to wear badges.
A Foreign Affairs Department spokesman confirmed an Iranian television report that Ambassador Gordon Venner was summoned on Wednesday.
The spokesman refused to say what was discussed at the meeting. However, it came days after Harper criticized Iran over a National Post report that quoted Iranian exiles as saying Iran's conservative parliament was debating a draft law that would force Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims in the country to wear special patches of coloured cloth to distinguish them from Muslims.
Iranian officials have denied that any such provision existed.
The Post said Wednesday it is now clear that last week's story was not true and apologized for the report, saying the newspaper should run more checks before publishing the article.
Harper said Friday, the day the story was published, that such a dress code could "remind people of Nazi Germany."
But the prime minister stepped back from that comment following a speech in London, Ont., on Wednesday, stressing that before he made those comments last week he cautioned that the facts of the story had yet to be verified.
"I'm glad to hear that the government of Iran is not considering this," he said.
That fact alone doesn't reassure him that his concerns over Iran are unfounded, Harper said.
"That doesn't make me any less concerned about the comments that the government of Iran has made on issues like Israel's right to exist, on denial of the Holocaust and these kinds of positions," he said.
"We continue to take issue with the government of Iran on these matters."
Iranian legislators denied any such provision existed in a bill to encourage Islamic dress. A copy of the draft law obtained by the Associated Press made no mention of religious minorities or any requirement of special attire for them.
"We apologize for the mistake and for the consternation it has caused not just National Post readers, but the broader public who read the story," Douglas Kelly, editor-in-chief of the National Post, wrote in a Page 2 column.
Kelly said the story was based on a column by Amir Taheri, an Iranian author and journalist, and two expatriate Iranians living in Canada.
"We should have pushed the sources we did have for more corroboration of the information they were giving us," Kelly said.
Taheri, on his website, wrote that the National Post "jumped the gun" and misinterpreted his original column. He insisted, however, that his sources in Tehran's parliament tell him that the concept of badges for religious minorities has been discussed for several years.
Relations between Canada and Iran cooled after the 2003 death of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi, who was arrested by Iranian authorities while covering a demonstration. In November, an appeals court upheld the acquittal of an Iranian intelligence agent and ruled Kazemi's death was not premeditated.
Another Canadian-Iranian intellectual was arrested early this month in Tehran.
According to news reports, Ramin Jahanbegloo, head of the office of contemporary studies at the private Cultural Research Bureau in Tehran, and a well-known philosopher and writer in Iran, has been charged with espionage and violating security measures.
Canadian officials are trying to secure his freedom.
"That fact alone doesn't reassure him that his concerns over Iran are unfounded, Harper said."
The more I know about Harper the more I like him.
We love him, he's been doing a great job. Best Prime Minister we've had in this country hands down.
"We love him, he's been doing a great job. Best Prime Minister we've had in this country hands down."
Great - maybe there's hope for Canada.
It may be a little too late for us though.
I hear you - unfortunately once you're in the downhill side of the slope, it's tough as hell to reverse directions. Sometimes things have to get much much worse before you can do that.
Sad to say, we're not far behind... but I don't think we've quite hit downhill yet. How this immigration thing ends up will say a lot about where we are.
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