I've had a lot of meetings with everyone you can imagine in government who is related to this case, even in the U.K., Sweden and Ukraine. From what I hear, because of the process of legal action against the Islamic Republic of Iran, they had to pass the negotiation phase. On January 5, 2022—this year—they said that negotiation with Iran was futile.
I think the core people in Global Affairs—not elected officials, but mainly the legal teams or the advisers—still believe in negotiation with Iran. They don't see the Iranian regime as a mafia group. If you change your mindset—you are not negotiating with Switzerland or a democratic country—then it would solve the problem.
For example, there was a soccer game planned this spring in Canada, and my simple question to them was, “Do you see North Korea playing hockey in this country?” I heard the answer, “That's North Korea.” I said that was the problem: We don't see the Islamic Republic of Iran in the same way as North Korea and Russia. These rogue states should be treated equally. You should not exempt the Islamic Republic of Iran from the list.