National security agencies will decide Iran terror designation, not MPs: Ottawa

The Liberals say it’s up to national security agencies to decide whether Canada extends its terrorism list to include a branch of Iran’s military.

MPs passed a motion in 2018 to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.

The U.S. has put the group on its terror list, but Canada has only listed a subset of the organization.

Iranians are facing a violent human-rights crackdown, and the Conservatives have renewed calls to have the IRGC listed as a terror group.

But the Liberals say adding to the list is “a careful, non-political process undertaken by Canada’s natural security agencies.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly would not specify why her government never followed through on the motion.