Canada is permanently banning senior Iranian regime leaders from entering the country, restricting financial transactions with Iran and pursuing new sanctions enforcement measures, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday.
“We are taking action that will raise the bar internationally, holding Iran accountable,” Trudeau said alongside Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa.
The federal government will prosecute a list of the Iranian regime, as well as the leadership of a branch of Iran’s armed forces known as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), under what Trudeau called “the most most powerful” of immigration law. and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).
Used only in cases of war crimes, genocide and other serious human rights abuses, Canada is taking action to permanently inadmissible to Canada the 50% of IRCG leadership, approximately 10,000 officers and senior members. This decision also means that they will be prohibited from doing business or holding assets in Canada.
The move comes amid continued condemnation of Iran for its violent crackdown on protesters sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly violating the country’s forced veil law.
Trudeau said Canada restricts financial dealings with Iran, which is associated with the IRGC and proxies that support them.
Canada also pledges to “massively expand” its targeted sanctions to hold Iran accountable, and allocates $76 million to build Canada’s capacity to implement sanctions.
“This will allow us to move more quickly to freeze and seize the assets of sanctioned individuals… It will also support the creation of a new sanctions office at Global Affairs Canada and new capabilities at the RCMP,” Trudeau said.
The government will expand its ability to combat money laundering and illegal financial activity, as well as crack down on foreign interference, “to protect Canadians of Iranian descent and other communities in Canada,” said the Prime Minister.
While Freeland explained how Canada views the Iranian regime as a state sponsor of terrorism and called the IRGC a ‘terrorist organization’, Canada’s top government officials on Friday stopped deciding whether to officially add the IRGC to the list. terrorist entities in Canada.
It’s a decision the Liberals have previously said would be up to national security agencies to decide, despite calls dating back to 2018 from parliamentarians to declare the IRGC a terrorist entity.
“It’s repressive, theocratic and misogynistic. The leaders of the IRGC are terrorists,” Freeland said. “Today, by listing the IRGC in the IRPA, and indeed by listing the broader leadership of the Iranian regime, we are officially acknowledging this fact and acting accordingly.”
As the Liberals tout Friday’s announcement as going “far beyond” what the Conservatives have called for, political pressure on the government to continue taking further action on Iran is likely won’t relax.
Trudeau said ministers will have more to say on the full suite of measures Canada has been working on all week, saying the cabinet is “not taking any other tools off the table.”
This week marked the 1,000th day since Iran’s downing of flight PS752 near Tehran. Most of the 176 people killed were heading to Canada via Ukraine on that flight, and the federal government says it will remain ‘relentless’ in its pursuit of justice for these families, in the face of Iran’s refusal to accept the responsibility.
Earlier this week, the federal government announced new sanctions against 25 members of Iran’s leadership and nine entities, including senior officials and Iran’s so-called morality police. Trudeau said Friday that Canada would continue to use all the tools at its disposal to amplify the “message of hope and freedom” coming from women in Iran and those who support them.
“The actions we have taken and are announcing today are among the strongest measures against Iran. To the strong, resilient and proud Iranian-Canadian community: we hear your voices, we have heard your calls to action. That is why we are today using the most powerful tools at our disposal to suppress this brutal regime,” Trudeau said.