An Iranian-American activist is accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of “empty words” and “cliché” over the federal authorities’s dealing with of alleged Iranian brokers working on Canadian soil.
Masih Alinejad, a Brooklyn-based journalist and girls’s rights activist, informed The West Block host Mercedes Stephenson that the Canadian authorities should do extra to handle threats in opposition to Iranian Canadians from the Islamic republic’s brokers.
“Iranian-Canadians in Canada, we love Canada. We love peace and security and democracy. We love Canada to be a shelter for, you know, decent people. And you’re putting the lives of Canadians in danger,” Alinejad mentioned in an interview on the Halifax International Security Forum.
“That’s what I can say, because otherwise he’s going to come up with a lot of empty words saying that you stand with the people of Iran. Now, please sit down and make decisions. How to protect human rights, how to protect democracy in Canada. That’s very important.”
An investigation by Global’s present affairs program The New Reality – which spoke to Iranian Canadians, safety and intelligence sources, and authorized specialists – steered that there have been upwards of 700, probably extra, of doubtless harmful Iranian-regime-connected people in Canada.
It additionally documented threats and intimidation of Iranian Canadians, allegedly carried out by people in Canada linked to Tehran.
Alinejad is aware of firsthand what that intimidation – and worse – appears to be like like.
Alinejad fled Iran in 2009 following a disputed presidential election and subsequent crackdown, and has been focused by its theocratic regime since.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) thwarted an alleged kidnapping plot in opposition to the journalist in 2021, and an alleged assassination try the next yr. The New Reality reported that the FBI allege each foiled plots had been linked to the Iranian regime.
Police mentioned they discovered a loaded AK-47 within the automobile of one of many suspects, Khalid Mehdiyev, who had “repeatedly” visited Alinejad’s Brooklyn house.
“I remember the day when, yeah, the FBI showed me the text messages between the killers, one in New York, the (other) one in Iranian intelligence service, saying that as soon as she came out, the show is over,” Alinejad mentioned.
The Global News investigation revealed the FBI, who protected Alinejad 24 hours a day, subsequently informed her to keep away from touring to Canada. If she was going, it could take months to give you a plan to make sure her security.
Alinejad is pushing the Canadian authorities so as to add the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) as a terrorist entity, which might impose penalties on individuals and organizations coping with the IRGC in Canada and bar members of the navy department from coming into Canada. The U.S. labeled the IRGC a terrorist group in 2019.
The federal Liberals have sanctioned members of the IRGC, however has thus far resisted calls to formally designate the group a terrorist group below Canadian legislation.
“We continue to watch and make sure that we’re able to do everything we can that is responsible against the impact of the IRGC,” Trudeau informed reporters Tuesday in Maple Ridge, B.C.
“As I have said many, many times, the Iranian regime responsible for shooting down of PS-752, the killing of its own citizens and killing of Canadian citizens, its sponsorship of terror around the world, means that we will continue to do everything necessary both to hold that regime to account … and to protect Canadians.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was extra direct.
“To learn from (Global’s) report that (there is) 700 (regime-connected individuals) was staggering, and it requires immediate action to kick them out,” Poilievre mentioned in an interview final week.
The Conservative chief mentioned he desires to see the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. listed as a terrorist entity in Canada, extra sanctions in opposition to Iran, and the creation of a overseas agent registry.
The year-long The New Reality investigation uncovered upwards of 700 regime-linked associates working on Canadian soil and threatening the lives of some Canadians.
In a press release, the RCMP acknowledged it acquired “reports of foreign interference being committed by or at the direction of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
‘A real threat to democracy’: Iranian-American activist urges Trudeau to act
