Canadian envoy meets Iran's Parliament rapporteur

Canadian envoy meets Iran's Parliament rapporteur
Tehran, Nov 27, IRNA-Canadian Ambassador to Tehran Gordon Venner and Rapporteur of Majlis (Parliament) Special Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy Kazem Jalali in a meeting on Sunday discussed matters of bilateral concern.
According to a report released by Majlis Media Department, at the meeting, Jalali referred to the recent developments in mutual ties and expressed Iran's willingness to expand such relations.
"However, Canada's leading role as the initiator of three resolutions against Iran's human rights situation is in serious conflict with the principle of expansion of mutual ties," he added.
Jalali hoped that given the moderate image of Canada in the public opinion, it should take effective steps to restore its status.
"Iran is the most committed regional country when it comes to human values and democracy, since, according to our religious training, killing people is prohibited," he added.
Criticizing the dual approach of the West towards issues such as democracy, human rights and terrorism, he noted that these attitudes account for the problems facing the whole world.
Abusing the `human rights' issue towards hegemony of the world power does not render any service and the West itself blatantly violates human rights throughout the world.
"Given that the human rights issue is associated with human beings, it should be dealt free from political tendencies," he added.
Turning to Iran's constructive cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog over the past two and a half years, he said that major confidence building measures have been taken by the country with respect to peaceful use of nuclear energy.
"Therefore, the public opinion and Iranian nation expect a rational approach in this respect from the West," said the rapporteur.
Underlining Iran's inalienable right to nuclear technology according to international laws, he hoped that justice and reason would prevail in nuclear negotiations to prepare the ground for settlement of the issue.
For his part, Venner pointed to Iran as an ancient civilized country and said that as compared to the regional states, high democratic standards and human rights are observed in the country.
Concerning the public opinion in Iran on the outlook of West, in particular Canada, on Iran, he said that the facts about the country's relations with the world are quite comprehensible.
The diplomat referred to the extensive social and cultural developments in Iran in the post-revolutionary era and said, "Great progress has been made by the Iranian people from all walks of life.
"In particular, Iranian scholars and the educated expatriates residing in Canada are considered as the world academic elites.