Iran’s terror arm allegedly targets Canadian Muslim reformer Raheel Raza
The allegation comes less than a year after the Canadian government formally designated the IRGC as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code — a long-delayed move Raza and other reformers had demanded for years.
Raheel Raza — a Pakistani-born Canadian human-rights activist, journalist, and president of Muslims Facing Tomorrow — has allegedly been targeted by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to a new report from the Middle East Forum’s Focus on Western Islamism.
Raza, a Muslim reformer who has spent decades warning Western governments about the dangers of Islamist extremism, was reportedly subjected to harassment linked to IRGC-affiliated influence networks operating abroad.
The IRGC, a military and intelligence wing of Iran’s theocratic regime, is known for its long reach into foreign countries, targeting critics, dissidents, and reform-minded Muslims who challenge Tehran’s ideological agenda.
The allegation comes less than a year after the Canadian government formally designated the IRGC as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code — a long-delayed move Raza and other reformers had demanded for years. The June 2024 designation made it illegal to provide material support to the organization or maintain any financial or organizational ties to its members.
Raza’s career has made her a natural enemy of Islamist movements.
In her 2017 testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, she warned lawmakers that Western complacency toward Islamist ideology — not just terrorism — poses a growing domestic threat. She called for designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, cutting off foreign extremist funding to North American mosques and universities, and empowering moderate Muslims rather than Islamist lobby groups to shape policy.
Her stance — condemning both jihadism and the Western elites’ political correctness that enable it — has made her a target for both radical Islamists and their apologists.
The alleged IRGC targeting of Raza underscores a broader pattern of Iran’s transnational repression against journalists, women’s-rights defenders, and dissidents. With the IRGC now officially listed as a terrorist entity in Canada, Raza’s case is likely to intensify pressure on Ottawa to do more than issue symbolic condemnations — and to actively protect Canadian citizens who have the courage to speak out against the world’s most dangerous regimes.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.
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