A group of Canadian and British lawmakers and politicians have urged their respective governments to take measures to stop Iran’s brutal crackdown on protesters.
Calling on Ottawa to reverse its “naïve position” on the Iranian regime, a Canadian lawmaker and opposition leader said there is evidence of the presence of Islamic Republic officials in his country.
Michael Chong in an interview with Iran International said that members of the government in Tehran have been coming to Canada and in some cases intimidating members of the Iranian Canadian community.
Referring to the presence of a retired commander of the Tehran's Police forces and the IRGC, Morteza Talaie in Canada, Chong added that, “Recently it has come to our attention that senior members of the Iranian regime have been in the Greater Toronto area. In fact, one of them was photographed working out at a local gym in the Greater Toronto area just a year ago.”
Chong, who is shadow cabinet minister for foreign affairs noted there is evidence that members close to the regime had purchased a car and replicated the exact insignia and details of the police in Tehran on the car and drove around Iranian neighborhoods in Toronto, intimidating Iranian Canadians with the suggestion that they were being watched by the police operating out of Tehran.
Meanwhile, British Conservative MP Bob Stewart said Tuesday he had heard “substantial rumors” that Iranian elites were attempting to make London “a place of safe refuge” and were applying for British passports.
In response, UK’s Foreign Office minister Gillian Keegan said, “Obviously we have our own rule of law here in the UK but in relation to the rumors he has heard about passports, I haven’t heard those, but I will certainly look into that.”
Some other British MPs also urged the government to impose sanctions on the IRGC and press for a United Nations investigation into alleged human rights abuse.
The Canadian MP also reiterated that Ottawa should list Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist entity and ensure that law enforcement have the resources to not just prevent members of the regime from coming to Canada, but to seize all their assets they have in their jurisdiction.
He added that they have stored away these assets through corruption and “we want to ensure that those assets are never again to be used for the wealthy leadership and their families and instead ensure that the people of Iran can benefit from the money.”
Referring to the downing of the Ukrainian airliner, he said 85 Canadian citizens and residents were aboard Flight 752 that was shot down in Tehran in January of 2020.
“Those families have yet to get justice for the deaths of their loved ones, and it’s also clear that the IRGC was responsible for shooting down that civilian airliner and so we believe it’s long past time for the government to list the IRGC as a terrorist entity.”
He further noted that Canada can play a role in convincing other countries around the world to recognize the leadership in Tehran as “a brutally repressive, murderous regime that has not only attacked its own citizens … like … Masha Amini, who was recently murdered, but also attacks citizens of other countries.”
The Canadian politician went on to say that the Iranian people are now calling for justice and change and more importantly the women are doing that.
“I think when you lose the support of half your population that are protesting in such large numbers the world community should rally around these brave Iranian women, show support for them and hopefully this time achieve the change we need in Iran,” underscored Chong.