The Political and Legal Issues between Iran and Canada and their Possible Solutions

What are the political and legal issues between Iran and Canada? What are the grounds for their formation and continuation? Are there any solutions for them? This paper studies the political and legal issues between Iran and Canada and presents some possible solutions for them. The author hypothesizes that the formation of legal issues between Iran and Canada is rooted in political issues between the two countries and therefore their resolution is also dependent on the resolution of political issues. Despite this, the political and legal issues between the two countries are so interwoven that their absolute separation and prescription of distinct solutions for each of them is impossible. Here, I explore the political and historical context of the two countries relations and recognize three main factors that have led to the formation of sever political issues between the two countries. These three factors are: idealism in the two countries foreign policies and their ideological link to domestic politics, the role third parties have played and finally the politicians’ radicalism. The major legal issues between Iran and Canada at a bilateral level are: imposition of unilateral sanctions, removal of state immunity and Canada’s domestic judicial decisions against Iran. On the international level, the legal issues between Iran and Canada include international sanctions related to the Iranian nuclear energy dossier and issues pertaining to human rights and terrorism. After a thorough explanation of these factors, I have concluded that there are some solutions for the existing problems between Iran and Canada that can be classified as the rebuilding and establishing of political relations, improving economic and trade interactions, and enhancing scientific and cultural cooperation.