As the families of PS 752 victims mark the fourth anniversary of the plane’s destruction, the federal government has not ruled out designating the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. This is a measure that the bereaved families have been demanding for many years.
Flight PS752 was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) shortly after takeoff from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.
The Iranian government claimed in a 2021 report that the airliner was shot down by mistake after being “misidentified” as a “hostile target” by its air defense forces, but Canadian safety officials say Iran does not support this conclusion with evidence. It is said that there is no.
The Ukrainian airliner was shot down five days after the US assassinated Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. This action brought the United States and Iran to the brink of war, and Iran launched a series of retaliatory missile attacks against American military personnel in Iraq.
Four years later, the families of PS 752 fatalities are calling on the federal government to finally heed their calls to list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization in Canada, a move the government has ruled out. do not have.
“Canada has to find a way to list this organization as a terrorist organization,” Kourosh Doustšenas, a spokesperson for the PS752 Victim Families Association, told CBC News on Friday. Doustošenas’ fiance, Forav Kadem, was killed when his plane was shot down.
“This is not one country’s regular army. They are interfering with all other countries. They are also being used as a weapon to suppress any demand for freedom and expression of opinion.” [inside Iran]” Doustshenas said, referring to the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on protests following the death of Martha Amini in 2022.
“This organization is nothing but a terrorist organization.”
The Revolutionary Guards is a paramilitary organization established after the 1979 Iranian revolution. According to the US base, council on foreign relationsthe Revolutionary Guards are tasked with defending the Islamic Republic from internal and external threats.
In 2017, Ottawa designated Iran’s Quds Force, a branch of the Revolutionary Guards responsible for extraterritorial operations, as a terrorist organization.
But the Liberal government has long resisted calls from the opposition Conservative Party and the families of PS 752 victims to designate the entire Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization. The party has argued in the past that such listings would be a heavy-handed approach that could affect lower-class citizens forced to serve in paramilitary groups.
CIA says Compensate for conscription More than 50 percent of the IRGC.
But in response to questions on Friday, Public Security Minister Dominique Leblanc did not rule out the possibility that the Revolutionary Guards would be designated as terrorists.
Asked about requests for Canada to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc asked national security agencies to advise the government on possible future listings. He asked them to keep it updated.
“Our government is constantly considering measures to strengthen national security and hold terrorist organizations accountable,” LeBlanc told reporters at an event in Dieppe, New Brunswick.
“I am asking the national security agencies to keep updating their advice to the government on the possibility of future listings, and if there is more to say about a particular change in position, I will say something at that time. intend.”
In 2019, the United States designated the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization under then-President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden’s administration maintained the list.
In December, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking his government to add the Revolutionary Guards to the list of terrorist organizations because of the militia’s ties to Hamas.
“In both words and deeds, the Revolutionary Guards, as an organization, are ideologically committed to destroying Israel and undermining the security interests of the United States and Canada in the Middle East and around the world,” the letter said. There is.
“By formally designating the Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organization, Canada can once again contribute to the global fight against terrorism alongside the United States.”
Can IRGC be listed?
Leah West, an associate professor of national security law at Carleton University, told CBC News in December that designating the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization is a largely symbolic act and could violate Canadian law. He said it was sexual.
“The Penal Code essentially provides a definition of terrorist activity that excludes military forces and parties to armed conflict,” West said.
“The list of terrorist organizations is dependent on their definition of terrorist activity. So, essentially, if there is no doubt that the Quds Force should not have been on the list because of that definition, then at least Legally, it would be even more difficult to list the entire military for that reason.” ”
If that’s the case, the law needs to be changed, Doustochenas said.
“Why not amend the law to capture situations where the Revolutionary Guards are a terrorist organization? What are we waiting for?” he said.
Doustchenas also said the Canadian government should find a way to exempt lower-ranking Revolutionary Guard conscripts from the list of terrorist candidates.
Families of PS752 victims will mark the fourth anniversary of the plane’s downing with vigils and ceremonies in several Canadian cities on Sunday and Monday, including Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
