Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird. Photo: wiki commons.

A member of Iran’s parliament on Sunday said that Canada’s decision late last week to sever diplomatic ties with Iran, giving Iranian diplomats 5 days to leave the country could lead other countries around the world to follow suit, according to Iranian News Agency Mehr.

Hossein Sobhani Nia, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission in the Iranian parliament, said that there is definitely the possibility that other countries will decide to cut ties with Iran. However, the lawmaker did not name the countries of his expected claims.

Lawmakers in Tehran reacted to the move by Canada calling the country’s policies “racist” and “extreme”.

“The current government of Canada under the leadership of Mr. Stephen Harper is known for extreme policies in the domain of foreign policy,” said Ramin Mehmanparast, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday. “The hostile behavior of the current racist government in Canada in reality follows the policies dictated by the Zionists (Israel) and the British.”

The move by Canada, which includes naming the Islamic Republic as a state sponsor of terrorism, comes as Iran continues to advance its nuclear program in the face of international concerns, and its support for President Bashar Assad in Syria continues while government forces make use of heavy artillery and air power to crush a political opposition that began peacefully.

“The Iranian regime is providing increasing military assistance to the Assad regime; it refuses to comply with U.N. resolutions pertaining to its nuclear program; it routinely threatens the existence of Israel and engages in racist anti-Semitic rhetoric and incitement to genocide,” Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said. “It is among the world’s worst violators of human rights; and it shelters and materially supports terrorist groups.”