By Barry Ellsworth
TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will soon be labeled a terror group by Canada, CBC News reported Wednesday.
Sources told CBC News that discussions on the designation are ongoing but the announcement could be made as early as this week. It comes after years of mounting pressure on the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
What tipped the scales was the downing of Ukrainian Airlines Flight PS752 by the IRGC in January 2020, minutes after it left Tehran’s airport. All 175 passengers were killed, including 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents.
Iran at first denied it fired missiles that downed the plane, then admitted the Guard had done so accidentally, believing the plane was an incoming hostile missile.
Canada led other countries that had lost citizens in the push to get Iran to formally accept responsibility for the act and to compensate the families of the victims. Iran has not agreed to compensation.
Trudeau told the families at a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of the tragedy that the designation was on the horizon.
“We know there is more to do to hold the regime to account and we will continue our work, including continuing to look for ways to responsibly list the IRGC as a terrorist organization,” Trudeau said at the Jan. 8 ceremony.
The Trudeau government also explained its reluctance to date to tag the IRGC with the terrorism label.
It said the designation could result in repercussions for Iranians in Canada who were opposed to the Iranian regime but had been forced to serve with the Guard in the past as part of mandatory military service.