TEHRAN: Iran on Thursday condemned as “irresponsible” and “hostile” a decision by Canada to designate the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist entity.
Ottowa announced on Wednesday it had placed the Guards on its terror blacklist over “disregard for human rights” and “willingness to destabilize the international rules-based order.”
In a statement Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani hit out at the Canadian move as “hostile” and “contrary to the accepted norms and principles of international law.”
“This irresponsible and provocative move is a continuation of the wrong path that the Canadian government has taken over the past decade,” he added.
Canada’s terror listing bars members of the Guards from entering Canada and Canadians from having any dealings with individual members or the group.
Any assets the organization or its members hold in Canada may also be seized.
The decision to add the Guards to Canada’s terror list comes amid tensions between Ottawa and Tehran which have not had formal diplomatic relations since 2012.
Canada and other nations have been engaged in legal action against Iran at the International Court of Justice over the downing of Flight PS752 in January 2020.
Iranian expats and families of the victims of from the flight, which was downed by Iran shortly after take-off from Tehran, killing all 176 passengers and crew, including 85 Canadian citizens and permanent residents, have long pressed Ottawa to designate the militia as a terrorist entity.
Tehran said a missile strike on the aircraft was carried out by mistake.
Ottawa has previously listed the Quds Force, the Guards’ foreign operations arm, as a terrorist entity, and in 2022 permanently denied entry to more than 10,000 Iranian officials, including Guards members.
The United States listed the Guards as a foreign terrorist organization in April 2019.
Earlier this month, the European Union also sanctioned the Guards for allegedly supplying drones to Russia and its allies in the Middle East.
Iran says Canada terror designation for Guards ‘hostile’
https://arab.news/97t4n
Iran says Canada terror designation for Guards ‘hostile’
- Ottowa announced that it had placed the Guards on its terror blacklist over ‘disregard for human rights’ and ‘willingness to destabilize the international rules-based order’
- Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani hit out at the Canadian move as ‘hostile’ and ‘contrary to the accepted norms and principles of international law’
Israel army ‘temporarily suspends’ strike on south Lebanon
- The Israeli military issued a warning earlier on Saturday announcing an imminent strike and warning people in the Yanuh area of south Lebanon to evacuate immediately
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it would “temporarily” suspend a strike planned for Saturday that was intended to target what it described as Hezbollah military infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
A November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, which broke out after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
But Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah members and infrastructure to stop the group from rearming.
The Israeli military issued a warning earlier on Saturday announcing an imminent strike and warning people in the Yanuh area of south Lebanon to evacuate immediately.
But later Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said “the strike was temporarily suspended,” adding that the military “continues to monitor the target.”
The suspension came after the Lebanese army “requested access again to the specified site... and to address the breach of the agreement,” he said on X.
Adraee added that the military would “not allow” Hezbollah to “redeploy or rearm.”
The year-old ceasefire monitoring mechanism includes the United Nations, the United States and France.
A Lebanese security source said the army had previously tried to search the building that the Israeli military wanted to target but could not because of objections from residents.
But the source told AFP that the Lebanese army was able to enter and search the building after returning a second time, because residents “felt threatened,” adding that they were evacuated over fears of a strike.
