US embassy cable - 03OTTAWA2109

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, Iran 
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