US Lawmakers Urge Canada to List Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as Terrorists

Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) march in a military parade in Tehran in this file photo. Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is urging Canada to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

Although Defence Minister Bill Blair said this week that the federal government is “absolutely committed” to keeping people with ties to the group out of Canada, Ottawa has stopped short of declaring the IRGC a terrorist entity.

That reticence has caused Republican congresswoman Claudia Tenney and Democrat congressman Jared Moskowitz to co-author a letter asking the Canadian government to recognize “the threat” posed by Iran and designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. The letter was co-signed by eight Republicans and four Democrats.

“It is in the spirit of strong and continued cooperation that we ask you to build on Canada’s existing designation of the IRGC Quds Force by finally designating the IRGC in its entirety as a terrorist organization,” the Dec. 13 letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reads.

“It is vital that Canada recognizes the threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and takes all appropriate steps to address it.”

The letter says the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people, including seven Canadian citizens, was “made possible by Iran and the IRGC.”

The IRGC “is ideologically committed to destroying Israel and undermining U.S.-Canadian Security interests in the Middle East and around the world,” reads the letter, which was posted on platform X by Ms. Tenney.

“The IRGC means what it says, and neither engagement nor concessions will change this underlying reality.”

The Epoch Times contacted the prime minister’s office for comment on the letter but didn’t immediately hear back.

Mr. Trudeau has acknowledged that Iran was involved in the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel but, when pressed by reporters during a press conference last month, would not commit to labelling the IRGC as terrorists.

“We continue every day to look at more ways to continue to hold this terrible regime [to account] that has as its first victims its own citizens, but also is involved in terrorist attacks, including the Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel,” Mr. Trudeau said.

He added that Canada would “continue to do everything necessary both to hold that regime to account to limit its impact around the world and to protect Canadians.”

The federal Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre have repeatedly called for the Liberal government to ban the IRGC from Canada, which Mr. Poilievre has called the “most sophisticated, well-financed terror group on planet Earth.”

Terrorist Designation

While the Liberals supported a Tory motion in the House of Commons in 2018 to designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity, they have not done so since, as pointed out by Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman.

“Time for the prime minister to ban the #IRGCterroists like he said he would. Like he voted to in 2018,” she said in a Dec. 13 post on X. “Ban them from organizing, recruiting and fundraising freely in Canada.”

In 2022, then-justice minister David Lametti expressed concern about using the Criminal Code against Iran, saying it would be too much of a “blunt instrument” because military service is mandatory in the country. He said labelling the IRGC a terrorist organization could potentially “punish innocent people or those against the regime.”

Rather than declare the IRGC a terrorist organization, Ottawa instead took steps to prevent senior members of the Iranian regime from entering Canada. Implemented on Nov. 14, 2022, the ban applies to those who have “perpetrated crimes against the people of Iran and other nations.” The ban covers heads of state, cabinet members, ambassadors, senior diplomats, military officials, and judges from Iran.

When pressed to go further than the current ban, the Liberals have said it’s up to national security agencies to decide whether Canada deems a branch of Iran’s military to be a terrorist group.

“Determining whether a group constitutes a terrorist entity is a careful, non-political process undertaken by Canada’s natural security agencies,” Public Safety Ministry spokesman Alexander Cohen told the Canadian Press in 2022.

“These agencies are continuously working to identify and assess entities that may meet the threshold for listing.”

The federal government in February 2021 added the Proud Boys along with 12 other entities to the list of terrorist organizations. This followed a vote on a resolution a month prior by MPs to declare the group as such.

Former Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) analyst Jessica Davis told The Canadian Press that cabinet does decide which groups are put on the terror list, but is advised by security agencies such as the CSIS and the RCMP.

Conservative critic for foreign affairs MP Michael Chong said the government should list the group as a terrorist organization, regardless of what intelligence agencies say.

“The minister should take guidance and advice from a variety of experts, and not just the experts in the intelligence community,” Chong said in 2022, citing government departments and intelligence allies. “The government is hiding behind an excuse that has no ground.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.