Mr. Speaker, the February 18 legislative elections in Iran profoundly changed the balance of political power in the country. The reformers of President Khatami won a majority of the seats. Canada congratulates the people of Iran for honouring the democratic spirit of the elections and voting in such large numbers.
We think the electoral process was open and fair and that it truly reflected the democratic will of the Iranian people. Results indicate that Iran is turning toward a more democratic system based on the rule of law and far removed from the ideological inflexibility of the past. With the presidential elections and the municipal elections in March 1999, this makes three times there has been a heavy pro-reform vote by the people of Iran.
Canada hopes that the path the Iranian people has chosen will make it possible to renew connections with Teheran and to ensure the ongoing reintegration of Iran into the international community. The government of President Khatami has done a great deal to improve its relations with its Arab neighbours and has turned to the West in hopes of expanding its relationships still further.
Canada has adopted a policy of limited engagement toward Iran, which restricts official visits between the two countries to the deputy ministerial level. The reason for the policy was Canada's concerns with Iran's human rights position, as well as its support of international terrorism, its opposition to the Middle East peace process and its support to groups that reject that process, and its search for weapons of massive destruction.
Although we are greatly encouraged by the outcome of these elections, we are now waiting to see improvements in these strategic areas of concern. We have seen some progress as far as human rights are concerned; the Baha'i are now allowed to register their marriages, thus improving the status of their children. The government has, moreover, declared that it will hold a public trial for the 13 Iranian Jews and others who were arrested a year ago and charged with spying for Israel and the United States.
Canada has made it clear to the Iranian government that the suffering of these individuals is still of considerable concern to it, and that it did not see its way clear to normalize relations between the two countries as long as Iran had not resolved the situation to Canada's satisfaction.