Canada foils Iranian plot to assassinate ex-minister

(Ottawa) The entire federal political class condemned on Monday the plot allegedly hatched by agents of the Iranian regime to assassinate former Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler. His daughter, a special Israeli envoy for the fight against anti-Semitism, said she was shocked, but not surprised by the news.

Mr. Cotler, a staunch human rights defender, was informed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on October 26 that he was at risk of being assassinated within 48 hours by Iranian agents. On Thursday, he was notified that this threat against him had been reduced significantly.

He had already been under RCMP protection for more than a year, with an armored vehicle and heavily armed police officers. This protection began after the attacks of October 7, 2023 perpetrated by Hamas in Israel.

The FBI also contacted him after his name surfaced in an investigation in the United States regarding the attempted assassination of Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and dissident in New York in 2022.

Mr. Cotler confirmed this information, first published in the Globe and Mailthrough the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, of which he is the international president. However, he declined our interview request “for health reasons,” said Center spokesperson Brandon Golfman.

“He has no knowledge or details regarding the arrests made,” Mr. Golfman said.

According to the Globe and MailCanadian authorities would have foiled the plot without knowing whether two suspects in this case were arrested or left the country. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service had informed him that he was one of Iran’s targets because of his work against the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“To ensure the safety of the people to be protected and its members, and to guarantee the integrity of operations, the RCMP does not disclose any information on protection measures or the identity of protected people,” its spokesperson said by email. words Robin Percival.

The Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc, also refused to comment on these revelations, which shed new light on foreign interference activities on Canadian soil carried out by authoritarian regimes such as Iran, China and Russia or even countries like India.

“We cannot comment on or confirm specific RCMP operations for security reasons,” said press secretary Gabriel Brunet.

“Shocking. But not surprising. »

A lawyer specializing in human rights, Mr. Cotler was Minister of Justice from 2003 to 2006 in the government of Paul Martin and a federal MP until 2015. He is now 84 years old. He has attracted the wrath of the Tehran regime for years with his campaign to have the Revolutionary Guards placed by Canada on its list of terrorist entities, which was done in June.

On Monday, his daughter, Michal Cotler-Wunsh, an Israeli diplomat and former politician, posted a screenshot of the article. Globe and Mail in his post on X with the words “SHOCKING. But not surprising. »

She is Israel’s special envoy for the fight against anti-Semitism.

“The Islamic regime in Iran and its genocidal proxies are INTENTION to assassinate the human rights of EVERYONE, in an attack on humanity and freedom of which the global TSUNAMI of anti-Semitism is the most harbinger. reliable,” she added, using capital letters to emphasize certain words.

“That a beloved role model and Canadian human rights hero is the target of this deadly, shape-shifting anti-Semitism […] should ring alarm bells for EVERYONE. »

In Canada, reactions came from all sides. On Monday, the House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion from Bloc MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe to condemn these death threats “orchestrated by agents of a foreign regime” against Mr. Cotler.

Several Jewish organizations, including B’nai Brith Canada, denounced this assassination plot. “The targeting of a prominent Canadian human rights defender should serve as a wake-up call,” said the organization’s research director, Richard Robertson, urging Canada to act against extremism.

According to former RCMP Deputy Commissioner Pierre-Yves Bourduas, foreign countries have no hesitation in using various means to silence Canadians, even here.

“Foreign countries that do not agree with public policies are going out of their way to eliminate people on Canadian soil who do not think like them. Iran still fits quite well in this line,” he underlined in an interview.

“It still has to be serious for the RCMP and security intelligence services to come together to tell Mr. Cotler that it is imminent and decide to provide him with security guards, an armored vehicle, etc. It’s still serious,” noted Mr. Bourduas, who is today president of PY Gestion en Sécurité publique inc., a company specializing in strategic management and talent development.

With Agence France-Presse