A senior member of Iran's Constitutional Council says the Canadian government's decision to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) contradicts the United Nations Charter and principles of international law.
"#Canada has forgotten that IRGC- as an ofcl (official) MIL (military) inst (institution) enshrined in Const (Constitution) - has a specif. (specific) legal STS (status)," head of the Constitutional Council’s Research Institute Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei wrote in a post on his X account on Friday.
He said Canada's move against the IRGC could lead to international responsibility.
Kadkhodaei, who was the former speaker of the Constitutional Council, warned against the consequences of blacklisting the IRGC as a “terror entity” which is against global peace and security as well as the entire Iranian nation.
In a hostile move against Iran, Canada's Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc Ottawa on Wednesday listed the IRGC as a “terrorist entity” under the Criminal Code and called on Canadians in Iran to leave. Ottawa is exerting more pressure on European governments to follow suit.
Last month, the Canadian House of Commons adopted a non-binding resolution calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to blacklist the IRGC and expel an estimated 700 Iranians.
The move makes Canada the second country in North America after the United States to blacklist the IRGC.
Iran’s Interim Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani on Thursday denounced Canada's blacklisting of the IRGC, describing it as a senseless gift to the bloodthirsty Israeli regime, terrorists and enemies of peace and stability in West Asia.
In a social media post on Friday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani said Canada's unlawful decision against the IRGC was "utter servility" to Israel at a time when the criminal regime is conducting the largest genocide against the people of Palestine in the Gaza Strip.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned Italy's Ambassador to Tehran Paola Amadei, whose country represents the Canadian interests in the Islamic Republic, in protest at the Canadian government’s decision against the IRGC.
Canada broke off diplomatic ties with Iran and closed its Tehran embassy in a surprise move in 2012, citing various reasons, including Iran’s support for Syria, its nuclear work, and alleged threats to the Israeli regime.
In the same year, however, Ottawa took off the anti-Iran terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from its list of terrorist organizations.