Mohammad Javad Zarif
Mohammad Javad ZarifReuters

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif confirmed this week that he held a telephone conversation with Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, and that a Canadian diplomatic delegation is currently in Tehran to discuss the possibility of Iranian nationals residing in Canada voting in the upcoming presidential election.

The official Iranian news agency reported that Zarif said that the necessary steps had not yet been taken to allow Iranians living in Canada to vote in the elections. Based on the conversation with Freeland, Zarif said that Canadian law allows voting only in diplomatic missions. In light of the fact that there is no Iranian representation in Canada, he advised Canadians with Iranian citizenship to vote at polling stations in U.S. cities near the Canadian border.

In 2012, under the leadership of former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada closed its embassy in Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats from Canada.

At the time, Canada said it viewed the Iranian government “as the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world today.”

Canada’s current government, under Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has taken a different approach to Iran and has been working to renew ties with the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian Canadian Congress welcomed the visit of the Canadian delegation to Tehran and called for renewed diplomatic relations and economic relations between the two countries.