Iran sanctions and Wikileaked Afghanistan documents: Liveblogging Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon's media availability



So, as noted in OotD, an hour or so before the Afghanistan Wikileak story broke last night, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon announced that he was planning to hold a media availability this morning, although at the time, his office may well have been operating on the assumption that his statement on the unilateral sanctions that Canada plans to impose on Iran, and not on the release of 90,000 pages of classified military and intelligence reports on the situation in Afghanistan. We'll see if that's how it goes down at 11am, so check back for full coverage!  UPDATE: It doesn't seem to have gone up online yet, but here's the PM's statement on the sanctions: 

 Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement on the implementation of further sanctions against Iran through the Special Economic Measures Act: 

 "Iran continues to ignore successive UN Security Council resolutions which call for it to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency and suspend its enrichment activities. Therefore, building upon last month's UN Security Council Resolution 1929, the Government of Canada is implementing new regulations aimed at restricting Iran's nuclear program and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). 

 "These sanctions are in no way intended to punish the Iranian people. These targeted measures are designed to hamper attempts by Iran to develop nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programs as well as to persuade it to agree to constructive discussions with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. These sanctions also send a message to all states -- particularly those with nuclear aspirations -- that international standards cannot be flouted without consequence. 

 "The sanctions bar dealings with designated individuals and entities involved in nuclear or WMD proliferation, including key members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They ban new investments in Iran's oil and gas sector and the export of goods to Iran that could contribute to nuclear proliferation. They also prohibit Iranian financial institutions from establishing a presence in Canada and vice versa. 

 "Canada strongly urges Iran to address the serious concerns raised by the military dimensions of its nuclear program and meet its international nuclear obligations."