On Friday, September 7, the government of Canada closed its embassy in Tehran, Iran, and requested that all Iranian diplomats in Canada leave the country within five days. The move caught diplomats around the world by surprise.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird made the announcement from Vladivostok, Russia, where he was attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-Operation summit. Russia is one of Iran’s and Syria’s closest allies.

“Iran is among the world’s worst violators of human rights. It shelters and materially supports terrorist groups,” Baird said in explaining the decision. He further cited Iran’s support of the regime of Syria’s President Bashar Assad, its failure to comply with United Nations resolutions on its nuclear program, and its threats against Israel. He also referenced Iran’s “blatant disregard of the Vienna Convention that guarantees protection of diplomatic personnel.” This observation follows last November’s storming of the British Embassy in Tehran by Iranian students who ransacked its offices. Baird also expressed that concerns over the safety of Canadian Embassy staff contributed to the decision to close the embassy.

The Canadian government’s decision prompted the cancellation of a trip by Iran’s parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, who had been invited to attend a meeting of international legislators scheduled for late October.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the move, calling it “a courageous act of leadership.”

When asked whether the move presaged an attack by Israel on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Foreign Affairs Minister Baird replied, “Unequivocally, we have no information about a military strike on Iran.”

Relations between Canada and Iran have been strained since the 1979 hostage crisis. In a radio interview, Ray Boisvert, a former Assistant Director of Intelligence at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, noted that Iran is considered to be a security threat to Canada. “There is [also] a long history of espionage. The Iranian Intelligence Service has been prolific over the years and has been a significant threat collecting information of economic and political value.” He also reported the threat of political interference in communities across Canada and other parts of the Western world. (You can listen to the interview here.) Boisvert expressed concern that Canada’s action could result in some form of Iranian retaliation against Canada either at home or abroad.

Ramin Mehmanparast, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, called Canada’s move “hasty and extreme” as well as “hostile behavior [by] the current racist government in Canada” and hinted at some form of response from his own government.

Baird delayed making the announcement until all Canadian diplomatic and embassy staff had left Iran safely on Friday morning. In response to the closure of the embassy, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada issued an advisory against any and all travel to Iran.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has long warned about the consequences of not dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat. Bible prophecy speaks of a time in the near future when a nuclear Iran will push at a German-led revival of the Holy Roman Empire. The result is described in our booklet The King of the South.