Thank you.

Honourable members, I testify before you today at a time when the threat from Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps jihadi terrorism has reached unprecedented levels in the west. In the past 72 hours, we at United Against Nuclear Iran have identified an individual at a rally in Toronto, dressed in IRGC attire, threatening IRGC-inspired jihadi violence on Canada's streets.

Despite the rising threat of IRGC terror, there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the IRGC, its violent Islamic extremist activities on western soil, and how proscribing the IRGC will practically mitigate its ability to operate abroad, including in Canada.

The IRGC is not a conventional armed force. It officially recognizes itself as an ideological organization with an “ideological mission of jihad in God's way to spread sharia law across the world”. It operates no differently from proscribed Islamic extremist terrorist organizations, from ISIS and al Qaeda to Hezbollah. It has a formal program of indoctrination to radicalize all of its members and their families in a violent Islamist extremist ideology, which, as my research has revealed, calls on its members to wage armed jihad against Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians on the basis that “they have unacceptable faith” and must either convert to Islam or be killed. It also teaches its recruits that Iranians who oppose the Islamic regime in Iran are moharebs, waging war against God, and must not just be killed but also be tortured prior to their death.

In a bid to make the IRGC into a more ideologically pure and extremist force, Ayatollah Khomeini has increased indoctrination in the IRGC, which now makes up more than 50% of its training. It has also restricted its conscript intake to members of the Basij paramilitary force and has doubled down on the most extremist Islamist and anti-Semitic doctrine—namely, the apocalyptic and militaristic doctrine of Mahdism, which calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and the killing of Jews worldwide to facilitate the return of the so-called messianic “Hidden Imam”.

These are not just empty actions. Look at the modus operandi of the IRGC—terrorism, hostage-taking, hijackings. In the past few years, the IRGC has increased its terrorist activities on western soil. In 2022 alone, U.K. authorities announced that they had foiled more than 16 IRGC terrorist attacks on British soil.

The IRGC is not only conducting direct acts of terror in the west; it is also seeking to nurture homegrown Islamist radicalization and terrorism using tactics identical to that of ISIS and al Qaeda. At United Against Nuclear Iran, we recently obtained and exposed videos of eight IRGC commanders being hosted online by a London-based entity called the Islamic Students Association of Britain and Europe. In their online speeches, these commanders glorified IRGC terrorism, propagated extreme anti-Semitism, and even called on British Muslim students to join their apocalyptic army that will eradicate “the lives of Jews everywhere in the world”.

This student body also has branches in Canada. Indeed, in 2023 an IRGC-affiliated propaganda anthem, Salute Commander, designed to radicalize children, was recorded on Canadian soil.

These methods are identical to homegrown Islamist radicalization tactics used by ISIS and al Qaeda. Unlike ISIS and al Qaeda, which are proscribed terrorist organizations, the current sanctions regime on the IRGC does not prohibit its propaganda activities, and nor does it prohibit its ability to disseminate jihadi propaganda.

Proscribing the IRGC would fundamentally change this. Proscription would give the Canadian government a clear mandate to prohibit any activity, including propaganda activity, related to the IRGC. It would also provide Canada's local communities, including teachers and local police forces, with the necessary safeguarding tools to identify and prevent against IRGC or Shia radicalization.

At present, Canada's preventive program designed to identify and prevent individuals from becoming involved with terrorism through radicalization is almost exclusively focused on Sunni Islamist extremism, meaning that IRGC and Shia Islamist extremist activities are blind spots. Proscribing the IRGC would fundamentally change this and equip Canada's communities with the ability to identify and prevent Shia and IRGC radicalization.

In other words, the claim that proscribing the IRGC is just a symbolic move is entirely false. Proscribing the IRGC will have practical and meaningful consequences on the IRGC's ability to conduct its radicalization and terrorism activities on Canadian soil. This is a step the Canadian government must immediately consider. I speak as both an expert on the subject matter and as someone whose best friend, British-Iranian journalist Pouria Zeraati, was stabbed in London only a few months ago in an IRGC terror attack.

The continued failure to prescribe the IRGC is putting Canadian lives at risk and poses a major national security threat to Canada.

Thank you.