Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It hasn't stopped in the least. We make a mistake when we sit and look at open sources of thinking that what gets reported publicly is what's happening. With covert organizations like Hezbollah and the Quds Force, there's a lot more happening than often gets reported. Whether it's suspicious surveillance or attempts that fail, Hezbollah surveillance at the airport in Johannesburg, from the Ukraine to Greece and Turkey, there are all kinds of things that continue on the Hezbollah side and on the Quds Force side.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Well, if you believe that this regime in Iran is reformable then I suppose that engaging with them makes a lot of logical sense. I don't believe that's the case. I believe this government in Iran is organized in such a way as to be repressive, to control who gets to run. I believe that to call the Iranian government a democratic government is a farce of democracy.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Of course. I should have mentioned that parts of my testimony come from my forthcoming book on Hezbollah, which is also coming out here in Canada, in the next few weeks. All of that is publicly available there.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Both the Basij and Quds Force fall under the IRGC, but the most important thing to understand is the personality of and the relationship of Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, to the supreme leader. Qassem Soleimani does not need to go through Jafari, the head of the IRGC.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you for the question. Indeed, my colleague, Mehdi Khalaji, is one of the strongest voices out there on this issue. Let me bring this directly to the issue that Mark and I have been discussing today, tying this not only to Iran's human rights abuses at home but also abroad, as there's a distinct connection between the two that goes back to the Green Revolution in 2009.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be here and an honour to sit next to Mark Dubowitz. I provided a longer testimony for the record, which I understand is being translated into French. This is just a summary of that. In 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.