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Economic sanctions against Iran a possibility

Canadian Press
Ottawa — Economic sanctions could be next after Canada recalled its ambassador to Iran over the burial of a Montreal photojournalist who died in police custody.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said measures have been taken to try to have the body of Zahra Kazemi, which he said was buried Wednesday by religious authorities, exhumed and returned to Canada.

Canada has recalled Ambassador Philip MacKinnon for consultation, Mr. Graham said in an interview with The Canadian Press, and economic sanctions against Iran are a possibility.

"Everything will be a possibility," he said.

According to data from 2000, trade between Canada and Iran totals more than $700-million, making Iran one of Canada's largest export markets in the North Africa-Middle East region. Iran is also one of Canada's largest export markets for wheat, totalling about $500-million.

Mr. Graham said he would first consult with Mr. MacKinnon — who is expected back Friday — before deciding the most effective next move.

A spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry called Mr. Graham's comments "unacceptable," a report from the official Islamic Republic News Agency said Wednesday.

Hamid Reza Asefi said he hoped Canada would refrain from launching "hasty and irrational" remarks that could compound the issue, the report said.

Protests from Canada have succeeded in removing Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, a hardliner who may have been one of Ms. Kazemi's interrogators, as the investigator in Ms. Kazemi's death, Mr. Graham said.

Instead, a military prosecutor will be in charge of the case.

"Clearly, we could well prefer someone more independent than a military, but I think it's a step in the right direction that it not be one of the persons who could be one of the accused responsible for her death," he said.

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien called Mr. MacKinnon's recall a "very noticeable" form of protest in diplomatic circles.

"I'm very unhappy that they would take a journalist and kill a journalist," Mr. Chrétien said Wednesday after a cabinet meeting.

Ms. Kazemi's only child, Stephan Hachemi, who lives in Montreal, had wanted her body sent to Canada for an independent autopsy and burial. Mr. Graham said the original wishes of Ms. Kazemi's mother, who lives in Iran, were the same.

But the IRNA reported Tuesday that it had received a request from Ms. Kazemi's mother to have her daughter buried in her home town of Shiraz.

Mr. Hachemi said his grandmother had told him earlier she was being pressured by Iranian officials.

Ms. Kazemi's family has hired a Canadian lawyer who has retained a separate lawyer in Tehran, Mr. Graham said.

"We'll supplement and help in every way possible the efforts of the family to have the body repatriated, including, of course, making representations directly to the government," he said.

Opposition critic Stockwell Day said because Canada failed to threaten consequences, the Iranian regime doesn't take Canada seriously.

Ottawa should have recalled its entire diplomatic staff in Iran and sent the Iranian ambassador to Canada home until demands were met, Mr. Day said from Toronto.

He said the government should also demand Canadian representation in any investigation into Ms.Kazemi's death.

Mr. Graham said he would continue to press the Iranian Foreign Minister, Kamal Kharrazi, for an "open and transparent" investigation. But he hasn't been able to reach Mr. Kharrazi, who is in South Africa on an official visit.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has called for an open trial of those behind Ms. Kazemi's death.

Asked if the burial would harm Iran-Canada relations, Mr. Khatami said, "Why should it? Hopefully no problems will come up with the Canadian government."

Ms. Kazemi died July 10, nearly three weeks after she was detained for taking photographs outside a Tehran prison during last month's student-led protests.

After 77 hours of interrogation, Ms. Kazemi spent 14 days in hospital before she died, according to a report conducted by a presidential committee. The hospital is controlled by the Revolutionary Guards, a hardline security force.

The last time Canada cut normal diplomatic ties with Iran was between 1980 and 1988, although they were never officially severed.

Since 1996, Canadian political relations with Iran have been governed by the policy of controlled engagement, and are reviewed periodically. In 2001, then Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley was the first minister to visit the country in a decade.

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