There are at least 3,000 Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Iran as protests and a brutal regime crackdown roil the country that Canada no longer has diplomatic relations with.
Canadians in Iran are being urged to “leave now” if it is safe to do so and make a land border crossing to either Turkey or Armenia to access any consular support services.
Without diplomatic relations, Canada and Iran maintain no embassies or diplomatic staff in each other’s countries.
Italy acts as what is known as a “protecting power” for Canada in Iran, with a limited diplomatic capacity for handling emergency consular cases.
Switzerland acts in that role for Iran in Canada, and Iran’s shuttered embassy in Ottawa was defaced earlier this week.
But it hasn’t always been that way — so how did we get here?
The freeze in diplomatic relations goes back more than a decade.
The Conservative government led by former prime minister Stephen Harper placed economic sanctions on Iran in 2010 over fears that Iran was pursuing the development of nuclear weapons.
The federal government at the time said this was done “in close consultation with like-minded partners, including the United States and the European Union.”
Soon after, the government suspended all bilateral trade with Iran and severed all diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2012.
The 2012 suspension of diplomatic relations cited Iran’s “increasing military assistance” to Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad during his brutal crackdown on Arab Spring protests, which included his use of chemical weapons against his own people.
Former foreign affairs minister John Baird, in a statement, called Iran “the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world” at the time, and Canada designated Iran as a “state supporter of terrorism.”
The Canadian embassy in Tehran was closed on Sept. 7, 2012.
All Iranian diplomats in Canada were expelled and Canadians in Iran were asked to travel to the Canadian embassy in Ankara, Turkey, for assistance.
Soon after Canada closed its embassy, Ottawa designated Italy as its protecting power.
In 2015, a new Liberal Canadian government under then-prime minister Justin Trudeau vowed to renew ties after the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.
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As part of the deal, Iran agreed to limit any activities in its nuclear program that could lead to the production of weapons-grade uranium.
In return, most nations agreed to lift some of the sanctions against Tehran.
In February 2016, Canada lifted some sanctions against Iran “in order to contribute to international efforts to recognize the progress made under the JCPOA.”
However, some restrictions remained on “Iran’s access to sensitive goods from Canada, especially with respect to nuclear proliferation and the development of ballistic missiles.”
The thaw did not last long.
In 2018, the first administration of U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal.
“We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction. Any nation that helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States,” Trump said.
In 2019, Canada accused Iran of “incrementally” reducing its compliance with the nuclear deal, “including by expanding enrichment activities and increasing quantities of highly enriched uranium.”
On Jan. 3, 2020, the U.S. killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in an airstrike, and on Jan. 5, Iran announced it was withdrawing from its commitments under the nuclear deal entirely.
Iran launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. assets in the Middle East on Jan. 7, and on Jan. 8, Iran shot down a passenger plane taking off from Tehran.
The downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 killed 176 passengers and crew, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.
On Sept. 16, 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in a Tehran hospital.
The Iranian government said Amini, who was arrested for defying the Iranian regime’s hijab laws, had a heart attack at the police station and fell into a coma before she reached the hospital. However, reporting quickly emerged, citing eyewitnesses who said that she was severely beaten by police and died as a result of her injuries.
Her death sparked the largest wave of mass protest against the Iranian regime in years.
Canada responded by placing sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran’s notorious “morality police,” and named a street after Amini in Ottawa.
Trudeau said Iran’s regime was “bloodthirsty” and that Canada would sanction the individuals most responsible for Iran’s egregious behaviour.”
In 2024, Canada listed the IRGC as a terrorist organization under the Criminal Code. Last year, Canada joined the United States and 12 European allies in condemning what they said is a “growing number of state threats” by Iran’s intelligence services against people abroad, including dissidents, journalists and Jewish citizens of their countries.
The joint statement issued by the U.S. State Department called attempts by Iran to “kill, kidnap, and harass people in Europe and North America” a “clear violation” of those nations’ sovereignty.
Last month, Tehran classified the Royal Canadian Navy as a terrorist organization.
As mass protests against Iran’s regime intensified this month, with estimates of more than 2,000 people dead so far, Canada said it “strongly condemns the horrific killing of protesters in Iran.”
“We have repeatedly called on the Iranian authorities to stop the persecution of its own population, and end repressive tactics including violence, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation.”
Due to the lack of a Canadian embassy in Tehran, Canada’s ability to provide consular services in Iran is “extremely limited,” the government has noted in statements about the ongoing protests.
While many airlines have suspended flights to and from Iran, land crossings to both Turkey and Armenia remain open. Anyone with a Canadian passport does not need a visa to enter those countries, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said.
Canadians can also contact the Emergency Watch and Response Centre in Ottawa, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, GAC said.
— With files from The Canadian Press