Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country.
I am thankful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate, and I am pleased to support this motion.
I want to begin by unequivocally condemning the Iranian regime. I condemn it for its incitement and its threats against Israel. I condemn it for its sponsorship and export of terror, for its support of Hamas and incitement of violence in Gaza, for its destabilizing efforts across the Middle East, for its egregious strike violations against the Iranian people, and for its imprisonment and murder of Canadians.
We need to distinguish that we are not condemning the Iranian people, but the theocratic, authoritarian regime under Ayotallah Khamenei. The Iranian people are the greatest victims of this regime and have their most basic rights and freedoms and aspirations crushed every day.
To start, I want to focus on Iran's clear call for Israel's destruction. Just last week, Iran's leader, Ayotallah Khamanei, called Israel a “malignant, cancerous tumor” that had to be eradicated. This is not a new position. Iran spreads this message around the world.
In Toronto, and across Canada, we experience annual al-Quds day rallies where demonstrators call for the destruction of Israel with blatant anti-Semitic incitement and hate directed toward Jews and Israel. These rallies were first initiated in the wake of a 1979 revolution, and are promoted internationally by Iran. I might add that this rally just took place this past Saturday in Toronto, and all of the things that I have just mentioned were on display.
Ayotallah Khamenei even stated that the mission of al-Quds day was to oppose “the danger posed by the usurper Israel”. This statement is not just hate, which it clearly is. This is a call to destroy the Jewish state. As the terrorist groups Iran funds say, they want to “drive Jews into the sea”.
This brings me to a point on the recent violence on the Israel-Gaza border. It is clear the terrorist organization Hamas, bears direct moral responsibility and culpability for the unfortunate loss of life. However, what many people tend to overlook is the role Iran plays as a destabilizing force in the region, in particular as a supply of weapons and money to the terrorist groups that threaten and attack Israelis on a near daily basis.
The rockets that Hamas indiscriminately fires into Israel, which is a war crime, are supplied by Iran. The rockets that the terrorist group Hezbollah fired into Israel during the 2008 war, and which it continues to stockpile today to threaten Israelis, those are supplied by Iran.
It is important to note that Canada has designated Hamas, in addition to the groups Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, as terrorist organizations since 2002. This is a position that the government continues to hold. We strongly condemn Iran's culture of violence, its threats toward Israel, and its acts of terrorism.
I also want to acknowledge and thank the Prime Minister for his support of Israelis during this difficult time. He clearly stated, “Israel has every right to defend itself against these deplorable attacks by the terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.” It is important to note that Iran is not just exporting terror to Israel. It is spreading it across the Middle East and around the world. Iran is an active belligerent in the Syrian civil war. It wholeheartedly supports its client, the Assad regime, and the brutal repression of the Syrian people.
In particular, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and Quds Force, the first sanctioned under our Special Economic Measures Act, and the second listed as a terrorist organization in Canada, have caused immense suffering for millions of people.
In Yemen, Iran actively supports and supplies Houthi rebels with weapons, encouraging and enabling them to continue the bloody civil war under which millions of Yemeni suffer horribly.
Iran even exports its domestic repression. Under Iran's direction, the leader of the Houthis in Yemen has begun to publicly incite hatred against the Baha'i, a pacifist religious minority that are brutally repressed in Iran. A prominent Houthis strategist even tweeted that “We will butcher every Baha'i.” However, I have not even gotten to the regime's abuses in Iran domestically.
At the subcommittee on international human rights, we hold an annual Iran Accountability Week, and every year we hear of the constant and worsening human rights abuses.
Last December, over 3,700 Iranian demonstrators, calling for their democratic rights, were arrested, including women and girls calling for equal rights. Those protesters have become subject to Iran's vindictive judicial system, which includes the notorious Evin Prison where Canadian citizen, Dr. Kavous Seyed-Emami died in February, which the regime boldly claimed was a suicide. His wife, Canadian citizen Maryam Mombeini, remains in Iran against her will.
I am proud of the foreign affairs minister's determination to bring Ms. Mombeini home to her two sons. As the minister told the foreign affairs committee just last week, any contact that Canada has with Iran is focused on Ms. Mombeini and bringing her back to Canada. This is a principled position that all Canadians should support. We cannot tolerate the death of a Canadian in an Iranian prison, and we cannot tolerate the Iranian regime effectively taking a Canadian hostage and refusing to let her return to Canada.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs has been unwavering in defending Canadians, and I support her wholeheartedly.
There is no discussion with Iran outside of returning Ms. Mombeini. There is no resumption of diplomatic relations. Iran must allow Maryam Mombeini to come home, and must do it immediately.
This is not the first case like this. Canadian permanent resident, Saeed Malekpour, has been imprisoned since 2008; the tragic case of Zahra Kazemi, the Canadian journalist who was murdered by torture in Evin prison; and of course Homa Hoodfar, who was, thankfully, released alive.
What is clear in all of these cases is that the criminalization of dissent in Iran has intensified and the persistent oppression of minority communities, including members of Iran's LGBTQ community and Iranian women, continues unabated. Iranian citizens exercising their rights of freedom of thought, conscience, and expression, as well as their freedom of assembly, face arbitrary detention, ill treatment, or much worse.
State-sanctioned discrimination against women and girls, ethnic and religious minorities, like the Baha'i, and human rights defenders continues unabated, and unencumbered by due process or any concept of fundamental principles of justice or the rule of law.
The Canadian government continues to hold the Iranian regime to account for its ongoing aggression and incitement by continuing to list Iran as a state sponsor of terror for the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. Canada also continues to have one of the strongest sanctions regimes to hold the Iranian regime to account.
Canada has and continues to be one of the strongest critics of Iran's atrocious human rights record. Since 2003, Canada has been the lead sponsor of the annual UN resolution on the situation of human rights in Iran, a tradition this government has proudly maintained.
Last, I want to reaffirm the point that we in Canada are a friend of the Iranian people and support them in their aspirations for a free and democratic Iran. Iranians are the regime's fist victim and deserve our support and solidarity.
I am proud to join our government in supporting this motion. I join the government in condemning the Iranian regime's unacceptable mistreatment of Canadian citizens, the deplorable terrorism and instability it exports across the Middle East and beyond, and the pain and suffering it imposes on the Iranian people.
At this difficult time, we should all stand with Iranians in calling for an end to the regime's violence and oppression.
