The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) has launched a petition calling on the Government of Canada to add Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the list of officially recognized terrorist organizations.
The petition states, “The IRGC has been terrorizing the citizens of Iran for decades and is currently engaging in a brutal crackdown on anti-regime civilian demonstrators. The IRGC has at the same time engaged in a longstanding campaign of military threats to eradicate the state of Israel, including funding for terrorist organizations that target Israeli civilians such as Hamas and Hezbollah.”
“Most recently, the IRGC was responsible for the murder of 57 Canadians aboard Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 from Tehran – a heinous crime that the Government of Canada must confront directly with the strongest possible sanctions.
"Despite the IRGC’s long history of terrorist activity, the Government of Canada has only recognized the extraterritorial wing of the organization known as the Quds Force as a terrorist group, but not the IRGC organization as a whole. Both [the prime minister and other members of his caucus] have shown support for listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization in the past, by supporting a private member’s bill calling for this action, and now is the time for the Government to take decisive and binding action.
“As a democratic world leader committed to the principles of free speech and free assembly, as an advocate for human rights and as an ally to Israel, it is time for Canada to stand up to the hatred and violence of the Iranian regime and add the IRGC to its list of officially recognized terrorist organizations.”