OTTAWA - The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran says Canada's tough stand on the issue gives strength to those inside the country.
Ahmed Shaheed made that comment as Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird welcomed him to his Centre Block office on Parliament Hill.
Baird praised Shaheed's work and says the rights situation in Iran has deteriorated in the last year.
The minister says that with the world preoccupied with the Iran's nuclear ambitions it is also important to keep the focus on human rights.
The UN Human Rights Council will be conducting its periodic review of Iran's record in Geneva on Friday.
Canada has taken one of the toughest stances of any country against a Iran by severing diplomatic relations and by closing its embassy in Tehran and kicking its diplomats out of Canada in 2012.
