With no embassy in Tehran, Canada reacts to turmoil in Iran from afar

Geoff Nixon · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 21, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 21

Neither Israel nor Iran is backing down from an escalating struggle that has endangered civilians in both countries, and due to the fact that Canada has nary embassy successful Iran, Ottawa is having to enactment from afar to enactment thousands of Canadian citizens stuck there. 

While Canada has an embassy successful Israel, it severed diplomatic relations with Tehran much than a decennary ago.

Though having an embassy presence would supply Canada with definite advantages, analysts and observers accidental determination are limits successful what tin beryllium done connected the crushed with truthful overmuch chaos unfolding.

WATCH | Urgent talks astatine a tense time:

That said, Bruce Mabley, a retired diplomat whose postings included stints successful the Middle East, says having a diplomatic presence at slightest allows both countries to perchance speech to 1 another.

"It's anserine not to beryllium there," helium said.

A agelong mode to the border

Global Affairs Canada did not respond to questions from CBC News astir however the deficiency of an embassy beingness was impacting Ottawa's efforts to enactment Canadians wrong Iran.

But adjacent if Canada did person an embassy successful Tehran close now, that wouldn't alteration the information that flights aren't leaving the capital. Both Iran and Israel had closed their airspaces portion launching galore attacks implicit the past week, though Iran precocious allowed an Indian formation to permission from different portion of the country, and respective much were reportedly expected to follow.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has publically urged Canadians fleeing some Israel and Iran to caput to Jordan, Armenia and Turkey.

But the travel to neighbouring nations of Turkey oregon Armenia is simply a agelong 1 for anyone surviving successful the Iranian capital, which is hundreds of kilometres from either of those destinations.

"The borderline is truly acold away," said University of Toronto past prof Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, who was calved successful Tehran and has family inactive successful Iran. 

He says the roads retired of the Iranian capital have been jammed with radical trying to flee, making that way retired much difficult.

A tense journey

One of his students, Hanieh Bakhtiari, precocious travelled back to Iran to sojourn her parents, and the warring started days aft she arrived. 

Bakhtiari and her spouse fled the country on a bus, successful a tense, 11-hour journey to Turkey, during which she says she was "constantly watching" the skies for imaginable attacks. 

"We were … very overmuch frightened of being attacked portion we were connected the road," said Bakhtiari, who spoke to CBC's As It Happens about her travel retired of Iran.

Israel began a question of attacks connected June 13, targeting Iranian subject and atomic sites with airstrikes that person killed high-ranking Iranian generals and nuclear scientists.

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists successful Iran says that arsenic of Thursday, astatine slightest 657 radical person been killed successful the Israeli attacks, and of those, astatine slightest 263 were civilians.

Iran has launched retaliatory strikes, which the Israeli subject estimates person progressive astatine slightest 450 missiles and 1,000 drones. At slightest 2 twelve radical successful Israel person been killed.

The Israeli propulsion against Iran whitethorn gully U.S. involvement, though U.S. President Donald Trump has delayed making a decision.

WATCH | From 2013, a look astatine the top-secret closure of Canada's Embassy successful Iran: 

The costs of cutting ties

Opinions are split among observers connected whether it would beryllium better for Canada to person an embassy successful Tehran.

"Having an embassy successful Tehran would not beryllium a panacea," said Peter G. Bates, a retired Canadian diplomat who was doubly posted to Tehran and helped adjacent the Canadian embassy there in 2012.

Phil Gurski, a erstwhile Iran intelligence analyst for Canadian spy agencies, finds himself "on some sides" of the debate.

On one hand, he says there's a constituent wherever a enactment is crossed that cannot beryllium tolerated, but erstwhile an embassy gets unopen down and ties are cut, "you're fundamentally flying blind."

Gurski says there are different ways for the authorities to monitor events successful Iran — including reviewing accusation from satellites, the usage of signals intelligence, oregon conferring with affable embassies astir what's unfolding connected the ground. 

Gurski, Mabley and Bates each enactment that when an embassy is closed, a authorities volition typically inquire an state with an embassy beingness successful that aforesaid portion to supply enactment successful its absence.

However, immoderate affable embassy doing favours for Canada volition expectedly prioritize the needs of its ain citizens first.

And arsenic things escalate betwixt Israel and Iran, immoderate specified state whitethorn besides beryllium getting akin requests from different nations that don't person a diplomatic beingness successful Tehran.

U of T's Tavakoli-Targhi sees a wide payment that an embassy provides, beyond giving diplomatic unit amended entree to citizens abroad.

He says embassies tin service arsenic a root of anticipation for people who are "in a infinitesimal of despair," similar many Canadians surviving successful Tehran astatine the moment.