OTTAWA: Canada closed its Tehran embassy on Friday and ordered Iranian diplomats be expelled as it accused the Islamic Republic of being the biggest threat to world peace.
Canada did not cite a specific incident that caused the breakdown, but issued a strongly worded attack on Tehran’s support for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s pariah regime and Iran’s “incitement to genocide” against Israel.
In announcing the action, Ottawa cited concerns for the safety of its staff at the diplomatic mission in Tehran and also attacked the failure of Iran’s rulers to account for the nation’s disputed nuclear program.
“Canada views the government of Iran as the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world today,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement.
“Diplomatic relations between Canada and Iran have been suspended. All Canadian diplomatic staff have left Iran, and Iranian diplomats in Ottawa have been instructed to leave within five days,” he added.
Baird also warned Canadians, including dual nationals, that Ottawa will not be able to provide assistance to them if they travel to Iran, and advised any Canadians in Iran to contact the Canadian mission in Turkey if needed.
Canada’s action did not prompt an immediate reaction from Tehran, but Iran had threatened “reciprocal action” in May, when Canada closed the visa section in its Iranian embassy, one used by thousands of Iranians with ties to Canada.
Ottawa’s move has gotten support from some of its allies in the West, who allege that the nuclear program aims to give Tehran a nuclear bomb, and have accused the “Iranian regime” of promoting international terrorism.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Canada for cutting diplomatic relations, calling the decision “courageous” and “an example to the international community.”
The US State Department said it “shared Canada’s concerns” regarding Iran’s support for the Syrian regime, its human rights record and its nuclear program.
“We want all countries to join us in isolating Iran as they see appropriate,” added State Department deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell, adding “there are many different ways they can do that.”
An estimated 120,000 people of Iranian origin or descent live in Canada, according to official 2006 census data, and thousands of their relatives in Iran visit them every year.
Despite worsening relations, however, Ottawa’s decision to cut all ties was surprising, Houchang Hassan-Yari, a Royal Military College of Canada professor, said, noting that as recently as the 1990s, Iran was Canada’s main commercial partner in the Middle East.
Friday’s move “is a sign of the very pronounced rapprochement between Canada and Israel,” and of an ever-stronger shift away from Iran, he added.
In July, Ottawa warned Iran not to recruit agents in Canada after an Iranian envoy was quoted urging Iranian-Canadians to “occupy high-level key positions” and to “resist being melted into the dominant Canadian culture.”
Ties have also been strained by Tehran’s treatment of Iranian-born Canadians who traveled to visit their homeland. Iran does not recognize dual nationality and authorities have denied Canadian detainees consular protection.
An Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, based in Paris, welcomed Ottawa’s decision to sever ties with what the group’s president-elect called “the religious fascism ruling Iran.”
Tehran had exploited its diplomatic relations around the world “to justify suppression, crime, acquiring advanced technology, in particular nuclear technology, and (to) export terrorism,” said Maryam Rajavi.
Iran, which has been ruled by an Islamic theocracy since the 1979 uprising against the former Persian monarchy, is locked in a diplomatic stand-off with the West over its nuclear activities.
Tehran insists it has a right to enrich nuclear fuel to power civilian nuclear energy and research, but Washington, Israel and their allies claim it is seeking nuclear weapons capability.
In recent years, the stand-off has led Canada and the international community to implement a series of sanctions against Iran.
Israel, which has an undeclared nuclear weapons program of its own, has made it clear that it would launch military strikes sooner than see its main enemy in the Middle East attain such a goal.
Iran’s leaders in return regularly issue threats to destroy Israel or to disrupt oil shipping in the Gulf. Tehran is also the main foreign backer of Assad’s regime in Damascus.
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Canada severs ties with Iran over Syria, Israel
Canada severs ties with Iran over Syria, Israel
Nigerian villagers are rattled by US airstrikes that made their homes shake and the sky glow red
JABO: Sanusi Madabo, a 40-year-old farmer in the Nigerian village of Jabo, was preparing for bed on Thursday night when he heard a loud noise that sounded like a plane crashing. He rushed outside his mud house with his wife to see the sky glowing a bright red.
The light burned bright for hours, Madabo said: “It was almost like daytime.”
He did not learn until later that he had witnessed a USattack on an alleged camp of the militant Daesh group.
US President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that the United States had launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against Daesh militants in Nigeria. The Nigerian government has since confirmed that it cooperated with the US government in its strike.
A panicked village
Nigerian government spokesperson Mohammed Idris said Friday that the strikes were launched from the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after midnight and involved “16 GPS-guided precision” missiles and also MQ-9 Reaper drones.
Idris said the strikes targeted areas used as “staging grounds by foreign” Daesh fighters who had sneaked into Nigeria from the Sahel, the southern fringe of Africa’s vast Sahara Desert. The government did not release any casualty figures among the militants.
Residents of Jabo, a village in the northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto, spoke to The Associated Press on Friday about panic and confusion among the villagers following the strikes, which they said hit not far from Jabo’s outskirts. There were no casualties among the villagers.
They said that Jabo has never been attacked as part of the violence the US says is widespread — though such attacks regularly occur in neighboring villages.
Abubakar Sani, who lives on the edge of the village, recalled the “intense heat” as the strikes hit.
“Our rooms began to shake, and then fire broke out,” he told the AP.
“The Nigerian government should take appropriate measures to protect us as citizens,” he added. “We have never experienced anything like this before.”
It’s a ‘new phase of an old conflict’
The strikes are the outcome of a months long tense diplomatic clash between the West African nation and the US
The Trump administration has said Nigeria is experiencing a genocide of Christians, a claim the Nigerian government has rejected.
However, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs now said the strikes resulted from intelligence sharing and strategic coordination between the two governments.
Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s foreign minister, called the airstrikes a “new phase of an old conflict” and said he expected more strikes to follow.
“For us, it is something that has been ongoing,” Tuggar added, referring to attacks that have targeted Christians and Muslims in Nigeria for years.
Bulama Bukarti, a security analyst on sub-Saharan Africa, said the residents’ fear is compounded by a lack of information.
Nigerian security forces have since cordoned off the area of the strikes and access was not allowed.
Bukarti said transparency would go a long way to calm the local residents. “The more opaque the governments are, the more panic there will be on the ground, and that is what will escalate tensions.”
Foreign fighters operate in Nigeria
Analysts say the strikes might have been intended for the Lakurawa group, a relatively new entrant to Nigeria’s complex security crisis.
The group’s first attack was recorded around 2018 in the northwestern region before the Nigerian government officially announced its presence last year. The composition of the group has been documented by security researchers as primarily consisting of foreigners from the Sahel.
However, experts say ties between the Lakurawa group and Daesh are unproven. The Islamic State West African Province — a Daesh affiliate in Nigeria — has its strongholds in the northeastern part of the country, where it is currently involved in a power struggle with its parent organization, Boko Haram.
“What might have happened is that, working with the American government, Nigeria identified Lakurawa as a threat and identified camps that belong to the group,” Bukarti said.
Still, some local people feel vulnerable.
Aliyu Garba, a Jabo village leader, told the AP that debris left after the strikes was scattered, and that residents had rushed to the scene. Some picked up pieces of the debris, hoping for valuable metal to trade, and Garba said he fears they could get hurt.
The strikes rattled 17-year-old Balira Sa’idu, who has been preparing for her upcoming marriage.
“I am supposed to be thinking about my wedding, but right now I am panicking,” she said. “The strike has changed everything. My family is afraid, and I don’t even know if it is safe to continue with the wedding plan in Jabo.”
The light burned bright for hours, Madabo said: “It was almost like daytime.”
He did not learn until later that he had witnessed a USattack on an alleged camp of the militant Daesh group.
US President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that the United States had launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against Daesh militants in Nigeria. The Nigerian government has since confirmed that it cooperated with the US government in its strike.
A panicked village
Nigerian government spokesperson Mohammed Idris said Friday that the strikes were launched from the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after midnight and involved “16 GPS-guided precision” missiles and also MQ-9 Reaper drones.
Idris said the strikes targeted areas used as “staging grounds by foreign” Daesh fighters who had sneaked into Nigeria from the Sahel, the southern fringe of Africa’s vast Sahara Desert. The government did not release any casualty figures among the militants.
Residents of Jabo, a village in the northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto, spoke to The Associated Press on Friday about panic and confusion among the villagers following the strikes, which they said hit not far from Jabo’s outskirts. There were no casualties among the villagers.
They said that Jabo has never been attacked as part of the violence the US says is widespread — though such attacks regularly occur in neighboring villages.
Abubakar Sani, who lives on the edge of the village, recalled the “intense heat” as the strikes hit.
“Our rooms began to shake, and then fire broke out,” he told the AP.
“The Nigerian government should take appropriate measures to protect us as citizens,” he added. “We have never experienced anything like this before.”
It’s a ‘new phase of an old conflict’
The strikes are the outcome of a months long tense diplomatic clash between the West African nation and the US
The Trump administration has said Nigeria is experiencing a genocide of Christians, a claim the Nigerian government has rejected.
However, Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs now said the strikes resulted from intelligence sharing and strategic coordination between the two governments.
Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s foreign minister, called the airstrikes a “new phase of an old conflict” and said he expected more strikes to follow.
“For us, it is something that has been ongoing,” Tuggar added, referring to attacks that have targeted Christians and Muslims in Nigeria for years.
Bulama Bukarti, a security analyst on sub-Saharan Africa, said the residents’ fear is compounded by a lack of information.
Nigerian security forces have since cordoned off the area of the strikes and access was not allowed.
Bukarti said transparency would go a long way to calm the local residents. “The more opaque the governments are, the more panic there will be on the ground, and that is what will escalate tensions.”
Foreign fighters operate in Nigeria
Analysts say the strikes might have been intended for the Lakurawa group, a relatively new entrant to Nigeria’s complex security crisis.
The group’s first attack was recorded around 2018 in the northwestern region before the Nigerian government officially announced its presence last year. The composition of the group has been documented by security researchers as primarily consisting of foreigners from the Sahel.
However, experts say ties between the Lakurawa group and Daesh are unproven. The Islamic State West African Province — a Daesh affiliate in Nigeria — has its strongholds in the northeastern part of the country, where it is currently involved in a power struggle with its parent organization, Boko Haram.
“What might have happened is that, working with the American government, Nigeria identified Lakurawa as a threat and identified camps that belong to the group,” Bukarti said.
Still, some local people feel vulnerable.
Aliyu Garba, a Jabo village leader, told the AP that debris left after the strikes was scattered, and that residents had rushed to the scene. Some picked up pieces of the debris, hoping for valuable metal to trade, and Garba said he fears they could get hurt.
The strikes rattled 17-year-old Balira Sa’idu, who has been preparing for her upcoming marriage.
“I am supposed to be thinking about my wedding, but right now I am panicking,” she said. “The strike has changed everything. My family is afraid, and I don’t even know if it is safe to continue with the wedding plan in Jabo.”
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