Iran has condemned Canada's decision to list Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, calling it "an unwise and unconventional politically motivated step."
The comment came Thursday from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani, who added: "Canada's action will not have any effect on the Revolutionary Guards' legitimate and deterrent power."
Tehran reserves the right to respond accordingly to the listing, he said.
Earlier Wednesday, Ottawa listed the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group, a step that could lead to the investigation of former senior Iranian officials now living in Canada.
"Our government has made the decision to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code," Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc told a news conference.
Flanked by Canada's foreign and justice ministers, he accused the Iranian regime of "support for terrorism" and "having consistently displayed disregard for human rights both inside and outside of Iran, as well as a willingness to destabilize the international rules-based order."
The United States took a similar step in 2019 against the Revolutionary Guards, which Western nations accuse of carrying out a global terrorist campaign.
Tehran rejects such claims, saying that the elite force is a sovereign institution responsible for safeguarding national security.
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, noting that Ottawa broke off diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2012, urged Canadians against travel to Iran.
"For those who are in Iran right now. It's time to come back home," she said.
The terrorism listing bars members of the Guards from entering Canada and Canadians from having any dealings with individual members or the group. Any assets the Guards or its members hold in Canada may also be seized.
Iranian expats and families of the victims of Flight PS752, which was downed by Iran shortly after takeoff from Tehran in January 2020, 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.
MPs last month unanimously voted to do so.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's administration had, until now, expressed a reluctance, explaining that a terror listing could be too broad and inadvertently impact anti-regime Iranians in Canada.
Earlier this month, the European Union also sanctioned the Guards for allegedly supplying drones to Russia and its allies in the Middle East.
The decision to add the Guards to Canada's terror list comes amid tensions between Ottawa and Tehran. Canada and other nations have sued Iran at the International Court of Justice over the downing of Flight PS752.
Tehran has claimed a missile strike on the aircraft was carried out by mistake.
