Conservative MP Garnett Genuis has been in close contact with members of the Iranian Canadian community since the United States and Israel launched combat operations against Iran’s Islamic regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Feb. 28.

The 39-year-old four-term parliamentarian told The Catholic Register that the diaspora has relayed that the interventions, codenamed “Operation Epic Fury” and “Operation Roaring Lion” by the U.S. and Israel, respectively, “are a source of joy and cautious optimism” among many Iranians who have settled in Canada.

As of March 3, the campaigns have resulted in the deaths of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dozens of other senior regime leaders and the destruction of air defence installations, missile and drone launch sites and warships. The Iranian Red Crescent Society said nearly 800 Iranians had died in the attacks.

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Genuis, a Catholic, is aware there are people of his faith, including senior Catholic leaders, who contest the legitimacy of the ongoing operations. He has a message to impart to them.

“All of us want to see peace and minimization of violence and conflict, and that requires care for the common good and the people affected by these dynamics,” said Genuis. “It is wrong to just look at relations just at the state level. We need to remember the people on the ground in those states. If nations continued turning a blind eye, the merciless slaughter of protesters would have continued. This intervention is justified, and we must be in solidarity with the people.”

There are estimates that the Iranian regime has killed upwards of 30,000 protesters since widespread protests against it were launched in the past two months.

The Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan MP began forging connections with Iranian Canadians shortly after being elected in 2015. In 2018, his private member’s bill to include the IRGC as a listed terrorist entity under the Criminal Code of Canada secured majority voting support. The federal government did not implement the policy until June 19, 2024, six years later.

His relationship deepened with the Iranian Canadian community following the downing of Flight PS752 by the IRGC over Ukraine, killing 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents among the 176 lives lost on Jan. 8, 2020.

“It was horrific and barbaric,” said Genuis. “Family members of those who lost their lives on that flight who spoke out were subjected to harassment from the regime.”

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Genuis co-organized a press conference in June 2023 about the need to honour the lives lost from Flight PS752 by designating the IRGC a terrorist organization.

Once the House of Commons reconvenes on March 9 following a one-week recess, Genuis will make the case that “Canada should be pushing for international actions calling for a free, democratic and pluralistic Iran.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney declared his support for the U.S. and Israel’s actions in a press release, and he reaffirmed that position during his state visit in Mumbai, India, on Feb. 28.

“Canada stands with the Iranian people in their long and courageous struggle against this oppressive regime, and we reaffirm Israel’s right to defend itself,” said Carney. “Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to further prevent its regime from threatening international peace and security.”

Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV, bishops from the United States and around the world have called for peace and a return to diplomacy as the conflict has the potential to spread throughout the troubled Middle East.

Genuis said one clear objective that must be realized is that “regime officials and money cannot park in Canada.”

Reportedly, at least 20 senior Iranian officials have made it through Canada’s immigration system, and a late 2023 investigation by Global News found that at least 700 operatives of the Iranian regime were on Canadian soil.

Genuis is also watching to see what the potential end of 47 years of Islamic rule could mean for Christianity in Iran and across the Middle East.

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The Register explored what could potentially lie ahead several weeks ago when the Iranian protests against the regime were rapidly gathering momentum. Various religious watchdogs have declared that Iran boasts the fastest-growing Christian movement in the world.

A woman named Maryem (last name will remain anonymous for safety reasons), a convert to Christianity living in Calgary who fled Iran with her husband and children to practice their faith unreservedly, shared “that when freedom happens, people find Christ.”