🔻Baqaei, in response to Canada’s alignment with the economic pressure of the United States on Iran; this is complicity in lawbreaking

🔻Ismail Baqaei, the spokesperson of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reacted to and objected to a statement by the foreign and finance ministers of Canada in which the country’s support for the United States’ campaign of economic ostracism of Iran was backed.

Mr. Baqaei said on Monday — 16 Shahrivar — “Exactly on the same day that the U.S. president, with disrespect, drew up the whole of Canada as part of America’s sphere of influence, the ministers of foreign affairs and finance of Canada decide to take steps again down the path of extortion toward a bullying neighbor; this time, by kicking at Iran through a statement that is filled with distortions of reality.”

Mr. Baqaei was referring to statements by Anita Anand, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, and François-Philippe Champagne, the country’s minister of finance, who, in a joint statement while condemning Tehran, asked Iran to immediately end its “destabilizing activities” in the Middle East.

In that statement, Canadian officials specifically referred to “ongoing threats to ships that intend to transit the Strait of Hormuz,” “pursuing unlawful nuclear activities,” and “support for proxy groups in the region.”

The ministers of foreign affairs and finance of Canada also announced that Ottawa, in close cooperation with other members of the G7, supports the United States’ efforts—alongside France and the United Kingdom—to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

On Monday, in response to these remarks, Mr. Baqaei said: “This is neither diplomacy nor a sign of responsible governance, but rather a sign of strategic confusion and surrender in the face of bullying; a choice that will put even Canada itself in greater exposure to the United States’ attacks and extortion.”