Iran says it is ‘ready for talks’ about renewing relations with Canada, but Ottawa must make 1st move [Video]

Iran has said it is “ready for talks” with Canada about renewing long dormant diplomatic relations between the two countries, but that Ottawa must be the one to make the first move.

“The relationship was frozen unilaterally by Canada, not by Iran,” said Esmail Baghaei, a foreign ministry spokesperson, at a recent media briefing in Tehran.

“And we never welcomed that decision because we think that decision was not for the benefit of either of the two nations,” he said.

Baghaei was responding to a question from CBC News on a recent reporting trip to Iran. Visas for Canadian journalists have only rarely been approved in recent years.

WATCH | Iranian spokesperson discusses possibility of renewing relations with Canada: CBC News senior international correspondent Margaret Evans asks Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei about Tehran’s interest in restoring diplomatic relations with Ottawa, broken off since 2012.

“I think it’s for …