Iran talks to feature in Barak trip to Canada

Defense minister to meet with counterpart MacKay and Canadian PM Harper; plans to urge tougher sanctions on Tehran.

By YAAKOV KATZ
Defense Minister Ehud Barak 311 (photo credit: Linoy Elihai / Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Ehud Barak 311
(photo credit: Linoy Elihai / Defense Ministry)
Iran’s nuclear program will feature high on Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s agenda in talks he will hold later this week with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Defense Minister Peter MacKay during a trip to Ontario.
Barak will leave for Ontario on Tuesday and will hold talks with senior Canadian politicians. He will also attend an annual gathering of NATO defense ministers in Canada and will then travel to New York for talks with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
Barak plans to urge his international counterparts to impose tougher sanctions on Iran in an effort to prevent Teheran from developing a nuclear weapon.
During a visit to Afghanistan over the weekend, MacKay told the Globe and Mail that he plans to ask Barak for clarifications about possible Israeli plans to attack Iran.
“I think Ehud Barak ... will be able to give us an insight into the thinking of the Israeli government about how they are going to respond to renewed suggestion and evidence that Iran is still aggressively pursuing nuclear capability,” the Canadian defense minister was quoted as saying.