Manitobans with ties to Iran say they’re thankful the federal government has finally decided to formally declare the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization under Canada’s Criminal Code.
“We have been fighting for truth and justice nonstop past four years, and today it’s been a huge step forward for also seeking the truth and justice on behalf of our loved ones,” said Kourosh Doustshenas, spokesperson for the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims.
“Thankfully, this is going to be helping us to get a step closer to having closure in our lives.”
Doustshenas lost his fiancée Forough Khadem when flight PS752 was shot down moments after takeoff from Tehran’s international airport on Jan. 8, 2020. It was brought down by two Iranian surface-to-air missiles launched by the IRGC.
All 176 people onboard, including 55 Canadian citizens — nine from Winnipeg’s Iranian community — were killed.
“This by itself was a war crime and a crime against humanity. They were innocent passengers in a civilian airline,” said Doustshenas, who is a real estate agent in Winnipeg.
“Our loved ones would have been alive today if they would have not been a target of the IRGC.”
The federal government made the announcement Wednesday afternoon after years of mounting pressure.
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 government’s news release cited the IRGC’s “known association” with Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are on Canada’s terrorist list. A Tehran-backed alliance of militant groups in the Middle East, which includes Hamas and Hezbollah, has been called the “Axis of Resistance.”
The IRGC was created following the 1979 Iranian Revolution specifically to protect the new government.
“This is not a national army of any kind. They have been supporting the terrorist organizations of all kinds … financially and also with supplying arms,” Doustshenas said.
“They’re trying to destabilize the whole region and also they’re trying to influence the democratic discourse in Canada by suppressing and intimidating the Canadian voices from the Iranian diaspora.”
Arian Arianpour, president of the Iranian Community of Manitoba, agreed.
“Their evilness has never had any limits. They are involved with executions, with murders, with torture, with systemic rape,” he said.
Amini was arrested in Iran’s capital for “improper attire” after she allegedly did not wear a hijab properly. The 22-year-old died in police custody three days later.
Iranian police said the cause of death was a heart attack, which caused Amini to fall into a coma before being brought to a hospital. Other women detained with her alleged she suffered police brutality.
He cited the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, which sparked a widespread anti-Iranian government protest movement.
Amini was arrested in Tehran by Iran’s morality police for “improper attire” after she allegedly violated the theocracy’s mandatory headscarf law. The 22-year-old died in police custody three days later.
“The Iranian diaspora all over the world and Iranian people inside the country are relieved by this decision [by Canada],” Arianpour said.
“Now that we have this designation, we are awaiting more targeted sanctions and more support from not only the people of the world, but the governments of the world.”
It’s a single battle victory in a larger war, he said.
“The people of Iran are not backing down until they get rid of this regime, because there is no future in Iran if the Islamic Republic is still in power,” Arianpour said.
“It is upon all of us to help the people of Iran, because it is not only their human rights. We should not forget that the Islamic Republic regime and IRGC are terrorizing people not only inside Iran, but in the Middle East, in Africa, in Latin America and recently in Canada.”