TEHRAN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian parliament on Sunday put forward a motion requiring the country's administration to designate the Canadian army a "terrorist" entity, the official news agency IRNA reported.
The motion, which was proposed at an open session of the parliament in the Iranian capital Tehran, was in response to the Canadian government's move on Wednesday to declare Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) a "terrorist" organization, the report said.
As per the motion, the Iranian administration will be duty-bound to list as "terrorist" entities the Canadian army as well as armed and security forces affiliated with the Canadian government.
During the session, 250 Iranian members of parliament signed a statement, condemning the Canadian government's "hostile" move of blacklisting the IRGC, the IRNA said.
The Iranian lawmakers voiced their all-out support for the IRGC, described the Canadian government's move as being "unwise and contradictory to all international laws and regulations," and called on the Iranian Foreign Ministry to use all its available political and international means to condemn Canada's move.
On Wednesday, Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced his country's decision to list the IRGC as a "terrorist group."
He vowed that Canada would use all the tools at its disposal "to combat the terrorist activity" of the IRGC while accusing the Iranian armed force of disregarding human rights both inside and outside of Iran.
Iranian Caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani on Thursday condemned the Canadian government's "provocative and irresponsible" decision, saying Canada's act of blacklisting the IRGC, which was an integral part of Iran's official armed forces, was in violation of the principles and rules of international law and threatened regional peace and stability. ■
