After the violent death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini in September 2022 at the hands of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s religious morality police, the Women, Life, Freedom movement sparked protests across Iran and the globe.

In response to these developments, Canada imposed sanctions on various Iranian entities and actors tied to the regime, including the morality police responsible for the deaths of Amini and other protestors, as well as PressTV, the Islamic Republic’s state-funded and controlled media network, which acts as the regime’s propaganda arm. The purpose of these sanctions is to ensure that Iranian state members do not enjoy access to Canada or its resources.

But even before this, Canada designated the Islamic Republic of Iran as “a state supporter of terrorism,” and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp’s (IRGC) Quds Force, responsible for terrorism outside of Iranian territory, as a terrorist entity in 2012. Since the war in Israel began with Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023, Tehran’s role in fomenting violence and instability has become more pronounced. On June 19, 2024, Canada officially listed the IRGC in its entirety as as terrorist entity.

On the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, PressTV journalist Camila Escalante reported on what PressTV referred to as “Toronto pro-Palestine rallies for first anniversary of Gaza genocide.” Escalante was on the streets of Toronto reporting for PressTV’s segment on the protest, interviewing participants and reporting on the “bloodshed in Gaza” and Israel’s “aggression.”

This is a clear violation of Canada’s sanctions regime on PressTV. A review of PressTV’s reporting since October 7 provides even more detail on its danger to Canadian society.

One report on the recent deaths of two Israeli civilians in Kiryat Shmona by Hezbollah rocket fire is a prime example of why the outlet has no place in Canada.

The English-language outlet referred to Kiryat Shmona as part of “Israeli-occupied territories,” and characterizes the strike as “part of the pro-Palestinian operations Hezbollah has been conducting (…) [since] the regime launched its genocidal barbarism in the Gaza Strip.” Unsurprisingly, Hezbollah’s actions are characterized as solidarity with Palestinian resistance against Israeli “invaders” and “occupiers.” Kiryat Shmona is not in disputed lands, but in Israel proper, and the two people murdered were outside walking their dog, hardly legitimate combatants.

Since December 21, PressTV has featured a tab on its website called “#RESISTANCEOPS.” It details terrorist activities “against the Zionist entity” (or “the Tel Aviv regime”) across the Islamic Regime’s proxies on the daily “amid the Israeli genocide in Gaza” and in recent days, “Gaza and Lebanon.” Go to PressTV’s Twitter account and you’ll see Hamas’ inverted red triangle proudly displayed, a symbol calling for terrorism against Israelis.

One posthumous report on Hezbollah’s assassinated leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, which framed his “struggles” as a “steadfast pillar of the Axis of Resistance” whose “legacy of courage and resilience will continue to inspire (…) the fight for justice in the region.” Or yet another on how Nasrallah’s legacy includes how he “redefined the art of resistance against Zionists” which includes the denial of Hezbollah’s responsibility in the deaths of 12 Druze children in the Golan Heights a few months back.

To illustrate just how extensively PressTV functions as a mouthpiece for the Islamic Regime and its proxies, consider the article: “Hamas issues new warning over Israeli captives amid ongoing genocide,” published on September 4, 2024. In this article, a video released by Hamas is described in great detail, starting with its purpose in sending a message to Israeli/Zionist settlers about the fate of “the large group of Zionist settlers and soldiers [taken] captive in [Hamas’] October 7 Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.”

Yes, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, the Israeli children kidnapped on October 7 by Hamas, and kept in Gaza ever since, are “Zionist settlers.”

But perhaps even more nefarious is PressTV’s description of the murders of six hostages in Gaza, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The outlet unsurprisingly holds Hamas’ story — that the six Israelis were “killed in Israeli airstrikes” — as truth, despite clear proof that the hostages were murdered by gun shots to the head in close-range not long before they were discovered by the IDF.

On October 13, 2023, while Hamas was still being fought within Israeli territory and bodies were being discovered left and right, PressTV published an article denying the rape, torture, and massacres of Israelis. The author, Tasawur Rizvi, accused U.S. President Joe Biden of “peddling lies” like “Hamas fighters ‘purposefully target civilians and kill them.’” Tasawar referred to the murder of what we now know was 364 individuals at the Nova music festival as a “hoax,” advanced by “fake Israeli tapes.”

According to this same article, Hamas did not target or kill civilians, but rather merely paraglided into Israeli territory to take prisoners “to exchange them for thousands of Palestinians currently languishing in Israeli regime prisons.” Tasawar also claimed that the footage of Shani Louk being dragged around in a pick-up truck was a lie (she was merely “injured and transferred” to a Gaza hospital), but this is a groundless lie meant to hide Hamas’ war crimes from the world.

An outlet that peddles narratives like: “The beautiful bond (Hamas leader) Haniyeh shared with Iran and Leader of the Islamic Revolution” and acts as a mouthpiece for terrorist groups (see “Hamas: Netanyahu keeps stalling Gaza truce deal” and any of their #RESISTANCEOPS pieces) should not be treated as reliable journalism, at the very least, nor given a safe haven to report from in Canada.

But more so, for over a year now, Israel has been fighting a multifront war against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its various proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah. A news agency that the Iranian regime funds is operating and spreading bias against Israel on Canadian soil — this cannot and should not go on. Media in Canada should not be a proxy for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Call on Global Affairs Canada to take action to ensure that PressTV doesn’t operate on Canadian soil anymore.