Iranian parliamentarians are calling on their government to list Canada’s army and RCMP as “terrorist organizations” in a retaliatory move against Ottawa for its recent decision to label the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist entity.
A group of 250 Iranian legislators introduced a motion on June 23 demanding the designation, Iranian state-owned news network Press TV reported. The broadcaster is owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.
The legislators are calling on the Iranian Foreign Ministry to use “all political and international means” to denounce the Canada’s “hostile move” of naming the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran’s Armed Forces, a terrorist organization.
The Iranian legislature called the Canadian government a “staunch supporter” of Israel and said that “blacklisting” the IRGC violates international law.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist entity at a June 19 press conference.
“The Iranian regime has consistently displayed disregard for human rights, both inside and outside of Iran, as well as a willingness to destabilize the international rules-based order,” Mr. LeBlanc said, adding that current and former senior Iranian government officials in Canada may be investigated and removed from the country.
The move came around a month after MPs voted unanimously in favour of a non-binding motion calling on the government to designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has defended the time it took to make the designation, telling reporters on June 20 the decision had far-reaching implications.
“We know that this is going to have real impacts for members of the Iranian community and Canada and potentially their families back home, which is why we needed to take our time to get this done the right way,” Mr. Trudeau said.
The prime minister added that the Iranian regime is focused on “destabilizing and creating chaos and death in democracies and countries around the world,” which was why the federal government had taken the “serious step” to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
Canada had already designated the Quds Force, a branch of the IRGC, as a terrorist entity. Other groups on the terrorist list include Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Taliban.
Canada sanctioned Iran’s defence minister and the country’s most senior military body after the IRGC launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel in April.
Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.
