Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would say we have had very few ministers from Kurdistan, for instance. Kurdistan is a very well-established part of the country. We have millions of Kurds in the country, but we have had very few people working in the administration from Kurdistan or from Sistan and Baluchestan

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much. First of all, I would like to say that after what happened in late 2015, with millions of refugees moving from Turkey and Syria to Europe, we saw a wave of Islamophobia over there. What I want to point out is that in a few years, due to drought, especially i

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Sure, I will respond first. The fact of the matter is that if Canada is willing to do business with Iran without putting in any preconditions, that would justify what the Iranian regime has done in the past and will do in the future. I'm not a politician, but I believe that C

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I salute Minister Dion for those remarks. On the matter of social media, Facebook, and later Instagram, and right now Telegram, have had a great impact on Iranian society. Because of press censorship, many post their artwork, pictures, cartoons, and illustrations on social media

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  One thing I'm mostly concerned about is the fate of a lot of journalists, bloggers, and human rights activists who are in prison, and nobody is supporting them. I believe we should be pushing the Iranian regime to free these individuals. A human rights activist was sentenced to 1

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  May I add my comments?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I just want to say that the Iranian government is an excellent example of taking everything hostage. It can take sanctions hostage against its own people. When the sanctions are removed, it can take the goods hostage to control its people. I think targeted sanctions against huma

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It's an old story, actually. It goes back to when during the Qajar dynasty, before the Baha'i movement started. We had the Bábí movement, and the higher minister at that time, Amir Kabir, ordered that the people who were following Báb be killed. Báb was from Shiraz. I'm originall

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, honourable members, I would like to thank you for this invitation. As an Iranian Canadian I have the obligation to pass the peaceful values of Canada to the great people of Iran, who clearly consider Canadians their very good fr