(Tehran) Iran summoned the Italian ambassador, representing Canadian interests in Tehran in the absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries, after Canada blacklisted the Revolutionary Guards, said official media said on Friday.
Posted at 7:21 a.m.
Canada announced Wednesday that it had placed the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, on its list of terrorist entities, accusing Iran of showing “disdain for human rights” and wanting to “destabilize the international order”.
In response, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “summoned the Italian ambassador on Thursday to convey to her our country’s firm protest against the illegal action of the Canadian government,” declared the official Irna agency.
The interim head of Iranian diplomacy, Ali Bagheri, also warned the Canadian government against the “consequences” of this “provocative and irresponsible” measure.
Ottawa’s decision comes against a backdrop of persistent tensions between the two countries, which severed diplomatic relations in 2012.
Canada can now freeze the assets of Guardian members and prosecute them. All financial transactions with them are also prohibited.
Canada is thus following the example of the United States, which placed the Revolutionary Guards on its blacklist in 2019, while European politicians are calling on their countries to do the same.
Canada has also banned the entry into its territory of 10,000 Iranian officials, including members of the Revolutionary Guards.
And like several other capitals, Ottawa is suing Iran before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hold Tehran legally responsible for shooting down a Ukrainian Boeing in 2020.
A Ukraine International Airlines plane, linking Tehran to Kyiv, was shot down on January 8, 2020, shortly after takeoff, causing the death of 176 people, mostly Iranians and Canadians.
