TEHRAN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian lawmaker said that Canada's suspension of diplomatic ties with Iran is a "hostile" decision, Press TV reported on Saturday.
The Canadian government is "blindly" following Britain, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, Chief of Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, was quoted as saying.
In November 2011, Britain closed its embassy in Tehran after angry Iranian demonstrators broke into two British embassy compounds, burning British flags and a car, following Iran's decision to downgrade its diplomatic ties with Britain in response to its financial sanctions against Tehran.
"The British government certainly seeks to lead its friends to the same path that it had taken. Therefore, this decision was in fact blind acquiescence by the Canadian government," said Boroujerdi according to the report.
He said that Canada sought to undermine the significance of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit recently held in Tehran, adding that the Canadian government's decision was also a reaction to Iran's "success" in holding the summit, said the report.
The remarks by Iranian lawmaker came after Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird announced on Friday that Canada has suspended its diplomatic relations with Iran and instructed Iranian diplomats in Canada to leave within five days.
Baird said in a statement that "Canada has closed its embassy in Iran, effective immediately, and declared personae non gratae all remaining Iranian diplomats in Canada."
Canada views the government of Iran as the biggest threat to global peace and security in the world today, he said, slamming Tehran on such issues as the Syrian crisis and Iran's nuclear program.
Over the past few years, Canada has been an active player in imposing sanctions against Iran, prohibiting trade and financial dealings with Iran's entities and individuals in an effort to suspend Tehran's all uranium enrichment-related and reprocessing activities.
OTTAWA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Canada has suspended its diplomatic relations with Iran and instructed Iranian diplomats here to leave within five days, Foreign Minister John Baird said Friday.
"Canada has closed its embassy in Iran, effective immediately, and declared personae non gratae all remaining Iranian diplomats in Canada," Baird said in a statement. Full story
TEHRAN, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Friday that Canada follows the policies of the UK and Israel towards the Islamic republic, the official IRNA news agency reported. Full story
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