By Dalena Reporters Staff l December 30, 2025
OTTAWA / TEHRAN — In a dramatic rise in tensions between Ottawa and Tehran, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has designated the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) as a terrorist organization, framing the classification as a direct response to Canada’s earlier blacklisting of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The announcement, released on Tuesday, marks an unprecedented diplomatic escalation between the two nations.
Iran’s official statement asserts that Canada’s June 19, 2024 decision to list the IRGC — a core branch of the Iranian armed forces as a terrorist entity “contravened fundamental principles of international law.” Citing a 2019 Iranian law on reciprocal measures against foreign designation of the IRGC, Tehran said it would apply those provisions to Ottawa’s military forces, beginning with the RCN.
Under the framework of this law, which was originally adopted after the United States designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization, Iran declared that any nation supporting or following the U.S. stance on the IRGC would be subject to analogous action. The Iranian statement specifically named the Royal Canadian Navy as falling within the scope of these reciprocal provisions, formally branding it a terrorist entity.
The designation underscores a deepening diplomatic rift between Ottawa and Tehran that has been in development for years. Canada severed formal diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012, citing concerns about Tehran’s support for Syrian and regional proxy forces, its nuclear developments, and perceived threats to international stability. Ottawa’s 2024 designation of the IRGC further strained bilateral ties, which have historically been fraught.
Officials in Ottawa have thus far been circumspect in public response. The Canadian Department of National Defence directed queries regarding Tehran’s designation to Global Affairs Canada, which has not yet issued a detailed public comment. Observers note that the move may have limited practical legal effect beyond symbolic posturing, as Canada’s sovereign military forces operate under international norms recognized by NATO and allied governments.
Analysts warn, however, that Tehran’s action could complicate any future diplomatic engagement, escalate tensions in regions where Canadian and Iranian interests overlap, and deepen mistrust in multilateral forums. The designation does not carry defined enforcement mechanisms, but its symbolic weight reflects a broader pattern of reciprocal escalation seen in recent years between Western states and Iran.
Canada’s decision to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization in 2024 followed long-standing concerns over the group’s regional activities and its admitted responsibility for the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 in 2020, which killed 176 people, including many Canadians. Ottawa’s designation was intended to bar IRGC members and affiliates from entry into Canada and to restrict financial dealings.
For now, diplomatic channels between Ottawa and Tehran remain effectively closed, with this latest development signaling that relations are unlikely to improve in the near term without significant policy shifts from one or both governments.