Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, is urging the Canadian government to list the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
This demand comes after Israel was attacked on the weekend by the Islamic Republic of Iran, which launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles at the Jewish state this past weekend.
Appearing on both the CBC and CTV, Moed painted a picture of the threats Israel faces in the Middle East and urged Canada to support Israel in containing Iranian influence.
“We’ve seen now what Iran is, what Iran is willing to do in order to achieve their goal and that is to eliminate the state of Israel and actually to destabilize the whole world,” said Moed.
“First and foremost, the first initial step would be to designate the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, that has to happen now, that has to happen today.”
Moed thanked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly for their “strong response” to Iran’s attack on Israel and also thanked opposition leader Pierre Poilievre.
Hours after news of the attack broke, Prime Minister Trudeau condemned the assault against Trudeau and issued a joint statement with all G7 leaders condemning the attack in the “strongest terms.”
Pierre Poilievre condemned the attack on Saturday while standing with Israel and the Conservative leader urged the government to list the IRGC as a terrorist group.
The Conservatives have put forward a motion in the House of Commons to call on the government to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization, receiving pushback from the Liberals.
Alberta MP Garnett Genuis delivered a spirited speech in the House of Commons challenging the Liberal government to follow through on a motion passed six years ago calling on the government to list the IRGC as a terrorist group.
“The events of this weekend underline why Conservatives have been persistently calling on this government to recognize that the IRGC is a terrorist organization and therefore must not be allowed to operate in Canada,” said Genuis.
“Six years ago, the case was already clear. And at the time in fact Liberals including this Prime Minister voted in favor of that motion. They voted in favor of it, they said they were thinking about it, they still six years later still say they are thinking about it and yet they have refused to act.”
Liberal MPs raised concerns that listing the IRGC would target Iranians living in Canada who had been conscripted into the IRGC unwillingly, as a large chunk of the Iranian military is composed of conscripts.
