Iran: Canada’s decision to list Revolutionary Guards as terror group is ‘unwise’

Tehran condemns Canada’s listing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization as “an unwise and unconventional politically-motivated step,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani is quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

“Canada’s action will not have any effect on the Revolutionary Guards’ legitimate and deterrent power,” Kanaani says, adding that Tehran reserves the right to respond accordingly to the listing.

On Wednesday, Ottawa listed the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization, a step that could lead to the investigation of former senior Iranian officials now living in Canada.

Canada already listed the IRGC’s overseas arm, the Quds Force, as a terrorist group, and Ottawa broke off diplomatic relations with Tehran in 2012.

The IRGC, a powerful armed militia that controls a business empire as well as elite armed and intelligence forces in Iran, has been accused by Western nations of carrying out a global terrorist campaign, something which Iran vehemently rejects.