Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on list of terrorist entities

Photo: Adrian Wyld The Canadian Press Federal Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc

Sarah Ritchie – The Canadian Press in Ottawa

Posted at 2:56 p.m. Updated at 3:47 p.m.

• Canada

Federal Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc announced that Canada has listed Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity, following months of growing political pressure.

“The decision sends a clear message: Canada will use all tools at its disposal to combat the terrorist activities of the IRGC. The Iranian regime has consistently displayed a total disregard for human rights, both inside and outside Iran, and a desire to destabilize the rules-based international order. he declared at a press conference.

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Members of Parliament voted unanimously in May to add the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of Iran's armed forces, to the list of terrorist entities.

This was not the first time that MPs in the House of Commons had voted in favor of putting the group on the list: opposition Conservatives pointed out on Wednesday that a Conservative motion had also been passed in 2018 and described the delay as unacceptable.

“As a result of this delay, the IRGC was able to strengthen itself thanks to Trudeau’s inaction. They were allowed to fundraise, recruit and operate in Canada while terrorizing countless Iranian-Canadians who fled to Canada to escape the IRGC in the first place,” the Party spokesperson said in a statement. Foreign Affairs Conservative Michael Chong and Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman.

The Liberals have said in the past that this could affect a number of people who had no choice but to enlist in the organization.

The federal government has already banned dozens of thousands of prominent Iranian government officials, including members of the IRGC.

Canada also included the Quds Force, an arm of the IRGC, on the entity list terrorists.

When asked what had changed leading to Wednesday's decision, Mr. LeBlanc replied that such decisions are not made “at cause of comments on Twitter or question period.”

“This was done based on advice from our security services and foreign policy considerations. It is a deliberative process, it is a threshold that must be respected under the Criminal Code of Canada. »

The entities are examined monthly by security agencies, he added.

En 2020, Iran shot down a Ukrainian Airlines plane, killing everyone on board, including 85 Canadian citizens and permanent residents whose families requested that the IRGC be placed on the list.