This week I’m looking at the fall-out from Canada listing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity.
The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian military.
It’s controlled by the most powerful figure in Iran, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Canada is only the second country to make this move.
And that’s caught the attention of media outlets around the world.
My guest is Houchang Hassan-Yari.
He’s a professor Emeritus at the Royal Ministry College of Canada, in Kingston Ontario.
His area of expertise is the Middle East, with a concentration on security in the Persian Gulf.
Listen as we tease out why this change in Canadian policy is big news internationally.

If you’ve caught any of my previous episodes, you know this podcast explores what happens when Canadian news events get covered outside our borders.

It’s an idea that’s been bouncing around in my head since 2006.
That’s when I first heard that Canada was ranked one of the top three countries in the world…in a new global survey called the Anholt Nation Brands Index.
I’m a journalist, and I thought there must be some connection between the perceptions people have of Canada, and what they see and hear about us in the international media.
Simon Anholt is the brain behind the Nation Brands Index…the people who run countries seek him out to hear how they can improve, or leverage, their nation’s reputation.
He joins me for a feature interview about "Brand Canada," how to destroy your country's reputation, and whether or not domestic news ever influences Canada’s international image.