Canada lists Iran’s IRGC as a terrorist organization

Canada has listed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization under the Criminal Code.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc made the announcement Wednesday after years of mounting pressure from Iranian Canadians and opposition parties.

“Our government will ensure that there is no immunity for Iran’s unlawful actions and its support of terrorism,” LeBlanc said at a press conference in Ottawa flanked by other cabinet members.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly warned Canadians in Iran that there was an heightened risk of arbitrary detention following Wednesday’s announcement.

“My message is clear: for those who are in Iran right now, it’s time to come back home,” she said. “And for those who are planning to go to Iran, don’t go.”

MPs voted unanimously last month to approve a report from the House of Commons justice committee that, among other measures, recommended the terrorist designation, but the motion was non-binding.

Families of Canadian victims of Ukrainian International Airlines Flight PS752, which was shot down by the IRGC in 2020, have been calling on Ottawa to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization ever since. All 176 passengers onboard the plane were killed, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at an event in January marking the four-year anniversary of the shootdown that the government was looking for “ways to responsibly list the IRGC as a terrorist organization.”

The Conservatives and NDP have criticized the Liberal government for delaying the designation. The Tories have pointed to a 2018 motion urging the government to list the IRGC that also got Liberal support.

“As a result of that delay, the IRGC has been able to grow