CANADA RECALLS AMBASSADOR FROM IRAN OVER

C O N F I D E N T I A L OTTAWA 002109

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/23/2013
TAGS: PREL PHUM IR CA
SUBJECT: CANADA RECALLS AMBASSADOR FROM IRAN OVER
JOURNALIST'S DEATH

REF: OTTAWA 1875 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Brian Flora,
Reasons 1.5 (b) and (d)


1. (U) Foreign Minister Graham announced on July 23 that
Canada is recalling its Ambassador to Iran after Iran
proceeded to bury photojournalist Zahra Kazemi rather than
return her body to Canada. Kazemi's son in Montreal had
called for the body to be returned to Canada, and Graham said
that Kazemi's mother requested this as well at the Canadian
Embassy in Tehran, but that Iranian authorities forced her to
proceed with a burial in Iran. Graham described this case as
part of a bigger struggle between Iran's
police/judicial/religious authorities on the one hand and the
Khatami Government on the other.


2. (U) Kazemi, who was born in Iran but has Canadian
citizenship and is based in Montreal, was detained on June 23
after taking (forbidden) photographs of a prison north of
Tehran. According to a report issued by the Iranian
Government, Kazemi went through 77 hours of interrogation by
police, prosecutors and intelligence officials before being
hospitalized on June 27. She died on July 10 from a "blow to
the head by a hard object," a blow delivered on June 25 or

26. Iranian President Khatami commissioned the inquiry which
produced this report, and which also recommended an
independent judge be appointed to identify those responsible.


3. (C) Chrystiane Roy, Foreign Affairs' Desk Officer for
Iran, told us that Canada is now reviewing all aspects of its
relations with Iran, which the GoC had previously described
as "controlled engagement." The Canadian Embassy will remain
open and there will be no break in relations, but Roy
expected a decrease in Ministerial contacts, official visits,
and cooperation with Iran in international fora, as well as
possible action in the UN Human Rights Commission. She said
that the GoC would determine triggers for the return of its
Ambassador to Tehran, probably including action against those
responsible for Kazemi's death.


4. (C) Roy said that the Kazemi case has become a lightening
rod in the power struggle now going on in Iran. She viewed
the Khatami Government's extraordinary response - holding an
inquiry, admitting the death was caused by a blow to the head
while in custody, and posting the report on the Government's
website - as an effort to deal a blow to anti-reform forces.
She added that Iranian Government officials have been helpful
to the Canadian Embassy in this case, but that they do not
recognize dual citizenship and so are officially treating
this as an internal matter. Kazemi never renounced her
Iranian citizenship, and had travelled to Iran on her Iranian
passport.


5. (C) Roy was pleased that Prosecutor General for Tehran
Mortazavi (aka "the butcher of journalists"),who was present
at Kazemi's interrogation and had initially been named to
pursue the inquiry, had withdrawn in favor of a military
prosecutor. But she still expected Iran's judiciary,
controlled by the clerics, to thwart the process.


6. (C) COMMENT: By taking the rare step of recalling its
Ambassador, Canada has underscored the seriousness of the
Kazemi case. Canada has long maintained that its "controlled
engagement" with Iran allows it to make a positive impact in
Tehran (similar to its Cuba policy),but the circumstances of
the death of this Canadian citizen could not be ignored. Her
burial in Tehran, against her family's wishes and limiting
further investigation, was the last straw. The fact that
Canada is extremely concerned about Iran's nuclear weapons
program (reftel) will also be factored into its reassessment
of the relationship.
CELLUCCI