Canada’s domestic intelligence agency has thwarted multiple potentially “lethal threats” originating from Iran against individuals living in Canada, the head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) revealed on Thursday in a rare public address.
Dan Rogers, who became CSIS director in February, made the disclosure while presenting the agency’s annual assessment of national security challenges.
His remarks marked the first official confirmation that Canada has actively intervened to protect critics of the Iranian government residing in the country.
Earlier this year, CSIS had acknowledged only that it was investigating Iranian threats.
“In particularly alarming cases over the last year, we’ve had to reprioritize our operations to counter the actions of Iranian intelligence services and their proxies who have targeted individuals they perceive as threats to their regime,” Rogers said.
“In more than one case, this involved detecting, investigating, and disrupting potentially lethal threats against individuals in Canada.”
Rogers did not provide details about the plots, but the revelation underscores the deterioration of Canada–Iran relations, which have been strained since Ottawa severed diplomatic ties in 2012.
Tensions deepened further last year when Canada designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation, prompting condemnation from Tehran.
The CSIS director also warned of ongoing threats from Russia, saying that illicit procurement networks linked to Moscow were attempting to illegally obtain Canadian technologies and goods despite international sanctions tied to the war in Ukraine.
“This year, CSIS took action to prevent this by informing several Canadian companies that Europe-based front companies seeking to acquire their goods were in fact connected to Russian agents,” Rogers said. He added that the firms immediately halted the transactions once alerted.
Rogers’ rare appearance reflects growing concern within Canada’s security establishment about foreign interference, espionage, and transnational repression, threats that CSIS says continue to evolve and intensify.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
