National

Regina man concerned about sanctions on Iran

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Category: National News

Created on Wednesday, 23 November 2011 16:02

U of Regina instructor Bahman Ahmadi sits next to an image of the Milad Tower, the symbol of Tehran, Iran. Photo by Nathan Liewicki. 

by Nathan Liewicki

Bahman Ahmadi hasn’t been to Iran since November 2010, but the University of Regina mathematics PhD candidate always keeps a close eye on his native Iran and in touch with his family there. That is especially true now.

On Nov. 21, the Canadian government announced Canada will join the United States and Britain in placing more sanctions on the Middle Eastern country. The sanctions are targeted at Iran’s oil and petrochemical industries, and its banking system. They have been imposed in an attempt to dissuade Iran from continuing what western countries believe is an attempt to build nuclear weapons.

Since hearing that Stephen Harper’s Tories had imposed further sanctions on Iran, Ahmadi has been wondering about the reason behind Canada’s decision.

“It's really depressing me as to why Canada would do such a thing because I would think of Canada as just a very wise country which carefully monitors the world and doesn't impose sanctions.

“Recently I think that their policy has changed. I wish it wasn’t like that,” said Ahmadi.

Growing up in Zanjan, about 300 km northwest of the Iranian capital of Tehran, Ahmadi remembers hearing international rumours that Iran was attempting to assemble a nuclear arsenal, but he never believed them to be true. He still feels that way today.

In addition, Ahmadi feels that the sanctions will have a negative impact on Iran’s economy, and more specifically on the people of Iran.

“If the economy isn’t doing well then you can say a lot of things, but if the economy is good then everything looks better,” said Ahmadi. “The (sanctioning countries) are pushing people in relation to the economy and that is having a great impact on them.”

Time after time Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has called Iran the biggest security threat in the world.

“Canada is deeply disturbed by the information in the most recent International Atomic Energy Agency report on the state of Iran’s nuclear program. It is yet more proof that the current regime in Tehran poses the most significant threats to global peace and security today,” Baird said in a Nov. 21 press release.

“Iran’s current leaders blatantly ignore their international obligations. They obfuscate Iran’s nuclear activities and they block any international attempt to verify the country’s claims,” he said.

Ahmadi believes that the sanctions being imposed upon Iran are the result of two reasons. First, he feels that they are being implemented solely to benefit the sanctioning countries. Second, he feels they are a way to prevent Iran from achieving independence.

“Iran's independence is bad for Canada and the US because that's what (the west) is afraid of,” Ahmadi said. “If Iran becomes independent and powerful, then other countries will establish trading relations with Iran. Having their oil, natural gas and minerals is very important to those countries and an independent Iran can supply that."