Foreign Affairs committee  The Iranian regime does have some support base. There are differences in the percentage, with some people counting a support base of as much as 9% to 10% of the Iranian people. In general, I can sum up the reaction of the Iranian people, especially those who oppose the regime, as indifference.

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, obviously, any analyst of Iranian heritage has been subjected to some social media activities by the supporters of the regime, and I was no exception to that. I have not been able to go to Iran since 2014, the last time I visited Iran. I have been aware of the risks, obviously.

Foreign Affairs committee  The IRGC has a naval branch, the IRGC Navy, which operates small missile boats, a large number of them, and has also recently commissioned missile corvettes. It has control of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the shipping lanes to and from that strategic water lane.

Foreign Affairs committee  Do you mean in Canada?

Foreign Affairs committee  No, I cannot. However, the money exchanges in Toronto—

Foreign Affairs committee  I cannot comment on that, but as I mentioned, the money exchanges in Toronto have means to directly exchange money with Iran, and that can easily be exploited by the IRGC and any Iranian government members.

Foreign Affairs committee  I cannot comment on that.

Foreign Affairs committee  Of course the IRGC, by design, is an international organization. They export their revolution, and that still persists, that ideology of exporting their revolution, expanding the rule of velayat-e faqih throughout the world. The creation of this Islamic civilization, the ideal Islamic civilization, by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, is not just a theory; the IRGC has been assigned by the supreme leader—and that's official—to implement his ideas and his doctrine.

Foreign Affairs committee  First and foremost, the focus of the IRGC in Canada is on the Iranian-Canadian community, and also the dissidents—the Iranian dissidents who live in Canada—and also any organization or NGO that has any kind of focus on the plight of the Iranian people.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, because the Iranian-Canadian community is an integral part of the Canadian system.

Foreign Affairs committee  As I mentioned, the IRGC is an adaptive, complex system. They adapt to new conditions and situations, and they have shown the ability to increase their role, to increase their presence. That has been the case in Canada and in many other countries that have an Iranian diaspora.

Foreign Affairs committee  The Islamic regime in Iran, in many cases, has been able to circumvent sanctions, adapt to existing sanctions and create measures to bypass some of the sanctions. However, the very existence of sanctions and sanctions regimes has a very important psychological effect. With regard to the IRGC, I think the sanctions will also have a very positive effect on the Iranian people, who have been subjected to the IRGC's nefarious activities for decades.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think it is the right time. It's probably even late for making such decisions. I think it's about time for Canada to designate the IRGC—in line with other countries, like the United States, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the European Parliament—as a terrorist organization.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much for inviting me to this important session. I think robust legislation has always been very effective, even if there are existing measures. The very fact that the problem still persists means there is still room for robust legislation. With regard to the IRGC and existing powers in Canada, yes, the RCMP probably already has special powers, but I think they can do much better with more resources.

Foreign Affairs committee  A lot of that information is open source. Yes, Iran and the IRGC fund Quds Force operations, because the Quds Force is a branch of the IRGC. The Quds Force—