Following a decision made by the United States in April 2019, Canada has applied a terrorist designation to the Iranian-based Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Following the announcement on Wednesday, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc stated that “Canada will use all possible tools to combat terrorist activities carried out by the IRGC.”
He said the designation was backed by “very strong and compelling evidence,” as well as the advice of law enforcement and security agencies. He denied that politics had played a role in its delay.
“The Canadian Jewish community has persistently called for this decisive action against the IRGC, recognizing its role in promoting violence and instability globally, including through its support for terrorist groups targeting Jews and others,” said Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
While CIJA applauded the designation, Fogel said “it is disappointing that it took so long for the government to act on its commitment.”
Anyone in Canada who supports or does business with the IRGC now faces prosecution.
“While we welcome that action was finally taken against the IRGC, why it took this long is something we’ve been asking as well. A Conservative motion to list the IRGC as a terrorist entity was passed in the House of Commons six years ago, and has been something both the Jewish and Iranian-Canadian communities have been calling for, often working together to advocate for this,” Richard Marceau, vice president of external affairs and general counsel at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, told JNS.
“The regime in Tehran threatens both communities—the IRGC shot down a plane full of Iranian-Canadians in 2020; they harass dissidents and refugees in the Iranian community in Canada; interfere with Canadian democracy; fund terror organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah; and call for the death of Jews worldwide and the elimination of the State of Israel,” he continued. “The bottom line is that the IRGC is now appropriately listed as a terror entity by the government of Canada, and that’s a positive development for all those innocent people and communities that have been regularly terrorized by this Iranian regime.”
Ottawa’s decision was also welcomed by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who said the world must “stop Iran now before it’s too late.
“Iran, and its terror infrastructure, must be held accountable for the crimes and atrocities they have committed and the terrorism they are spreading across the Middle East and around the world,” tweeted Katz.
