Canada Must Brand IRGC as Terror Group, Dissidents Urge

Canada’s government must designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group after a unanimous vote by MPs, Iranian dissidents have urged.

On Wednesday, the House of Commons adopted an unopposed motion branding the IRGC as a terrorist organization and expelling approximately 700 Iranian agents operating in Canada. The vote was in response to a report prepared by a House committee and did not constitute a binding obligation on the government.

Canada-based Iranian dissident Hamed Esmaeilion wrote on X on Wednesday: “The time has come for the Canadian government to finally put this motion to action and call the IRGC what it deserves to be called."

Esmaeilion is a member of the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims. The group supports relatives of the 176 passengers who were killed when the Kyiv-bound flight was brought down by two IRGC air-defense missiles on January 8, 2020, as it took off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport. Among those who died were 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

Another prominent opposition activist, Masih Alinejad, asked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau which side of history he would choose in a tweet on X, "The people or the terrorists?"

"Millions of Iranians are counting on you to do the right thing and stand on the right side of history," Alinejad tweeted on Wednesday.

"The Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic Republic are like a dangerous virus, ready to spread across the globe unless we stop them. If you don’t take a stand against terrorism, it won’t just affect Iranians, but people worldwide will suffer the consequences", she added.

The call to brand the IRGC a terrorist group is only the latest attempt in Canada, stretching back to at least 2012. The mass drone and missile attack by Iran on Israel last month has amplified such calls among Canadian parliamentarians.