Eisen: Trudeau’s Iran Sanctions Still Ineffective

tomtidgewellNovember 21, 2022

Despite the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s expanding repertoire of terrorist atrocities, Canada refuses to list the entire IRGC as a banned terrorist organization.

A recent protest rally in Ottawa brought Ottawa residents from the Iranian and Ukrainian communities together to speak out in defense of the Iranian and Ukrainian people. Photo by Ashley Fraser /post media

In a clear reversal of policy, the Trudeau government recently decided to sanction 10,000 “top leaders” of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as “unacceptable to Canada.” It certainly seems wise to keep 10,000 of the most vicious, insatiable and corrupt human rights abusers on the planet out of this country.

But that wasn’t the case until a few weeks ago.

And even today, despite the IRGC’s ever-expanding repertoire of terrorist atrocities, including the murder of Canadian citizens and the shooting down of Ukrainian Airlines flight PS752, Canada has the entire IRGC banned under Canadian law. Eagerly refusing to be listed as a terrorist organization… this same IRGC is now bringing its talents to Ukraine to prevent Russia from directing drones into civilian infrastructure and killing Ukrainian civilians. I am supporting.

The recent policy shift may at least be seen as a step forward, but from Tehran’s perspective, it would be viewed quite differently.

In Iran’s authoritarian analysis, these sanctions are seen as measures of the more Western half, possibly inconvenient or damaging, but ultimately justifying the regime’s non-compromise. , would help reinforce Tehran’s not-unreasonable assessment of taking action only against regimes that fall short of what is truly needed to deprive them of the oxygen they need to survive.

Tehran would speculate that the measure was perhaps a convenient nod to the outrage on the Canadian streets, but it deliberately chose to avoid listing the IRGC as a whole as a major facilitator of international terrorism. It limits authority to individuals within the IRGC terror cartel.

The regime also said these half-measures were probably just a quarter-measure, blatantly blaming the subordinates and agents of these 10,000 individuals, including the Basij resistance forces, who were linked to and controlled by the malicious IRGC. may conclude that the crime order. These subordinates are as vicious as their sanctioned superiors and remain inexplicably well-suited to enter Canada under current sanctions.

This measure is therefore misleading. They frame a surprisingly large group of IRGC members as if they were individual rogue actors somehow disconnected from the single, consolidated his IRGC command in which they operate. This ridiculous proposal does little to hurt the IRGC or help Iranian protesters. They tell the wrong story, convey the wrong message, and fail to meet the accountability demanded by Canadians and the protesters themselves.

These 10,000 rogues aren’t just individually malicious officials. They are an integral part of the internal circuitry of the IRGC — a multi-billion dollar terrorist empire whose nuclear greed and genocidal anti-Semitic tendencies pose a threat to all of humanity.

The government’s claim that these sanctions are “the most powerful means of tracking state and national agencies” is also incorrect and misleading. Canada has other substantial tools it doesn’t use. Under Canadian law with serious legal consequences, listing the entire IRGC as a terrorist organization is legally feasible and the federal government has not offered a compelling argument for not doing so. .

In short, in the Tehran terrorism calculation, Canada’s “all but IRGC terrorist list” policy is another bone in pursuing the Islamic Revolution’s publicly declared apocalyptic goal of the destruction of the international order. It’s hard to survive but make up the difficulty.

That delusion must be shattered, and Canada and its allies can help dismantle it by officially outlawing the entire IRGC and listing the terrorists. The EU and UK are considering this option. Canada should not be last.

If questions remain about the value of sanctioning the IRGC in response to current protests in Iran, perhaps the most compelling endorsement comes from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. ” if the IRGC no longer exists.

By listing the entire IRGC as a terrorist organization, Canada can help fulfill both Khameini’s worst fears and the unyielding aspirations of Iran’s staggeringly brave dissidents.

Danny Eisen C-CAT, co-founder of the Canadian Coalition Against Terrorism. Founded by his 9/11 family in Canada, C-CAT is committed to developing innovative public policy strategies in the fight against terrorism.