Should Canada Restore Diplomatic Relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran? (Part 1)

In announcing the severing of Canada’s formal diplomatic relations with the government of Iran in 2012, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird described the Persian country of about 80 million people at the crossroads of Eurasia as "the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world". Iranian diplomats in Ottawa were declared “personae non gratae” and compelled to vacate their ambassadorial seat. The University of Lethbridge Professor of Globalization Studies, Dr. Anthony Hall, was recently invited to attend as a delegate to an international conference of Independent Thinkers and Film Makers in Iran’s capital city, Tehran. For several days the conference was a main focus of national news in the host country even as it was the subject of a rather vicious smear campaign mounted by the Anti-Defamation League in the United States and throughout an echo chamber of US news agencies including the Washington Post. While in Tehran, Professor Hall was interviewed with Farsi-language translation on one of Iran’s main Public Affairs shows viewed by about 8 million TV watchers. He will bring us his observations of what he saw and experienced beyond the frontiers of Canada’s formal international diplomacy. Now in his 25th year as a Lethbridge academic, Prof. Hall will explain his views on the situation in Iran considering it is on the receiving end of a barrage of economic warfare, cyberattacks on its nuclear energy program, and Mossad assassinations of several of its nuclear scientists. He will address the question, “Is Canada’s orientation of hostility towards the Islamic Republic of Iran an expression of Canadian interests or is it an expression of the subordination of Canada’s national interests to the foreign policy priorities of the Israeli government”? Moderator: Martin Heavy Head Date: Thursday, March 26, 2015 Time: Noon - 1:30 PM (30 minutes each for presentation, lunch and Q & A) Location: Country Kitchen Catering (Lower level of The Keg) 1715 Mayor Magrath Dr. S Cost: $11.00 (includes lunch) or $2.00 (includes coffee/tea at the presentation only)