Ottawa

Ignatieff on Iran

The Liberal leader tries to explain his position on peace in the Middle East

Ignatieff on IranThe Liberal leader tries to explain his position on peace in the Middle East.

“Iran has to understand that the international community is united on the proposition that you can’t deny the Holocaust, and you can’t threaten any of your neighbours, and certainly not the Jewish state. And that means the Iranian government has to be aware that those feelings, those views, are backed up with appropriate military force… so they are backed up by credible deterrents.

“But I think it’s legitimate… to say no thoughtful Israeli and no thoughtful Iranian, in my view, wants this to come to conflict, and it would be a catastrophe for both sides.

“Canada has always stood for peace. So … Canada has to stand essentially for three things: unequivocal condemnation of Holocaust-denying rhetoric [and] anti-Israeli rhetoric by the Iranian regime; commitment to credible military deterrence; commitment to demanding that Iran comply with the International Atomic Energy Association in respect of its domestic nuclear program. And as Canada has always said, there are no military solutions in this region.

“At the end of the day, Iran is a great power. Israel is a legitimate democratic state. There are no ultimate military solutions to these problems. There has to be some kind of opening of the doors, in which Israel and Iran eventually sit down and live in peace with each other.”

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