Canada includes IRGC on the terrorist list

The federal government of Canada is listing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization under Canada's Criminal Code after years of mounting pressure.

Federal ministers delivered the news Wednesday afternoon, hours after CBC News first reported the government was preparing to make the announcement.

Once a group is placed on the country's terror list, police can charge anyone who financially or materially supports the group and banks can freeze its assets.

The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian armed forces that answers directly to Iran's supreme leader. The IRGC shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 above the skies of Tehran in January 2020, killing 175 passengers, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly warned that Canadians in Iran might face a heightened risk of arbitrary detention after Wednesday's announcement.

This latest development comes after years of pressure on the federal government to list the IRGC.

The association representing family members of Flight PS752 victims, members of the Iranian Canadian community, the Conservative Party and the NDP have all called on the government to designate the entire militia group as a terrorist entity. MPs voted unanimously last month to do so.

Canada does not have an embassy in Iran; it cut diplomatic ties with the country in 2012.

In 2022, the government said that including the militia group on the terrorist list could unfairly affect Iranians in Canada who opposed the regime and fled, but had to serve with the IRGC in the past as part of mandatory military service. Then-justice minister David Lametti said designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity could be too much of "a blunt instrument."

The government has also argued it already listed the Quds Force — a branch of the IRGC — as a terrorist organization. But the victims' families said that wasn't enough because the Quds Force was not the branch responsible for shooting down Flight PS752.