Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the steps that our Conservative government took in trying to coax Iran into halting its nuclear ambitions by way of an aggressive sanctions program. The Iranian regime truly felt the impact of global sanctions on Iran; so much so that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the day sanctions were lifted “a golden page” in the country's history.
Iran has a long history as a vicious actor in the Middle East: exporting terror globally, supplying military assistance to Assad in Syria and to Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as routinely threatening the destruction of our friend and ally, Israel. A commander of the IRGC said as recently as March, “Even if they build a wall around Iran, our missile program will not stop”.
Any Liberal plan to abandon sanctions against Iran would overturn our principled stand by the previous Conservative government. The evidence is clear: the Tehran regime commits horrible human rights violations against its own people and supports terror throughout the Middle East and incitement against Israel.
The Conservatives still see Iran for what it is and would rather judge Iran by its actions than by its words.