Canada Revenue Agency has determined that the Islamic Shia Assembly of Canada (ISAC), a charity that has been operating in Toronto for more than 20 years, is a “facilitator” of the Iranian Ahlul Bayt World Assembly (ABWA).
The CRA carried out an audit and has concerns that the charity is being used to spread the Iranian regime’s ideology in Canada. It has thus taken away the organisation’s status as a charity.
The ABWA in Iran, Ahl-ul-bayt World Assembly, is linked to the Iranian regime and the organisation’s secretary-general is described as the “operational father” of the Lebanese Hezbollah.
The ISAC has been a very active group that has invited and welcomed members of the country’s parliament to some of its many events.
Canada severed diplomatic relations with Iran back in 2012 and considers it as a major threat as a state sponsor of terrorism.
The CRA have said that the ABWA is a department in the Iranian regime’s cultural wing and plays a big role in the export of the Islamic revolution. Hassan Nasrallah sits on its Supreme Council. The leader of the ABWA, Mohammad Hassan Akhtari, was the one to establish the military-like structure of Hezbollah.
The ISAC has denied the allegations made against it via its lawyers. They said: “The organization denies any and all allegations made in any correspondence from the CRA in connection with the CRA’s revocation process.”
Mid-2016, the auditors indicated that ISAC was wholly or partly set-up to work with the “operational goals” of the ABWA in Canada, going as far as to describe it as “an ABWA branch”. The CRA claims that the ABWA interferes in the business of the charity and that ISAC directors went to conferences run by the ABWA. Furthermore, the ABWA’s logo appeared on the CRA website.
Its charity status was revoked because its activities are not in line with Canadian law. Its links to the Iranian regime and terrorist organisation Hezbollah were deciding factors, as well as its “strong political agenda”.
The founder of the charity, Syed Hosseni-Nassab was also the president of the Islamic Centre of Hamburg. German authorities said that it was an organisation that has links to the Iranian government and is involved in the spread of the ideology of the Islamic revolution. Authorities also said that the Islamic Centre of Hamburg spread pro-regime propaganda across Germany.
It is known that the Iranian regime has centres, diplomats and organisations across the world. They work with the Iranian regime to provide intelligence about the host countries and / or to spread pro-regime messages and to dispel the genuine concerns about the Iran threat.
Source » irannewsupdate