Iran’s intelligence services could also be behind recent attacks in Canada, in line with a top-secret government report obtained by Global News.
The threat assessment said it was a “realistic possibility” that Iran had used local criminal networks to focus on Canada’s Jewish community.
The report said “actors who could also be directed by Iranian Intelligence Services” were also suspected of threats to the Israeli and Iranian communities and interests.
The intelligence temporary on violence in Canada linked to the Iran war was released to Global News under the Access to Information Act.
“The first violent extremist threat in Canada with a nexus to the conflict stays a self-directed radicalized lone actor or small group unconnected to Iran,” it said.
“Nevertheless, it’s a sensible possibility that Iran is enabling criminal proxy actors to perform attacks in Europe against Jewish community targets and that they’ve directed or enabled similar acts of criminal violence in Canada because the starting of the conflict.”
The report by the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre (ITAC), which analyses threats to Canada’s national security, was dated April 2.
The document, in addition to a second one on the identical theme, was partly redacted and didn’t publicly discover which acts of violence in Canada it was referring to.
However it said a brand new organization called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya had claimed responsibility for attacks in Europe, including an arson at a London synagogue.
U.S. prosecutors have alleged that Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya is a front for Kata’ib Hizballah, a pro-Iran Shia militia based in Iraq.
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In May, the U.S. arrested a Kata’ib Hizballah member named Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi for allegedly directing attacks in Europe.
In response to the allegations, Al-Saadi boasted that he was behind two attacks in Toronto — shootings at a synagogue and the U.S. consulate.
Toronto police have arrested several gunmen who were allegedly a part of against the law network that was hired to open fire on the American consulate.
A Toronto officer, Const. Marc Pinizzotto, was shot dead throughout the investigation, which is examining greater than two dozen shootings across the town.
The gunmen were hired through encrypted messaging applications and were required to record video of the incidents to be able to receive payment, police said.
“What we’re coping with on this case and in other unrelated incidents, including shootings at synagogues and Jewish schools, is a recurring and similar modus operandi — criminals for hire,” Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said.
Police said they were investigating who was behind the shootings. The Secretary of State for Combatting Crime, Ruby Sahota, has blamed an unnamed “foreign entity.”
Canadian authorities haven’t publicly linked the case to Iran. But two intelligence reports released to Global News point to the possible role of Iranian intelligence.
“Since ITAC’s last update, alleged threats and suspicious activities directed at targets linked to Israeli, Iranian and Jewish community-linked individuals and interests in Canada proceed, including from actors who could also be directed by Iranian Intelligence Service,” it said.
Iran has an extended history of attacking opponents in Western countries, and allegedly plotted to assassinate critics in Canada, including former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler.
On June 10, Canada joined its allies in condemning “lethal plotting” against Iranian dissidents and Jewish community members by Iran.
The joint statement blamed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization, the Quds Force, and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security.
“The relationship between Iranian security services and international and native criminal groups is long standing,” the statement said.
It also condemned attacks across Europe that were claimed by Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya “and supported by their intermediaries.”
Last week, Foreign Minister Anita Anand said Canada had no plans to revive diplomatic relations with Iran that Ottawa severed in 2012.
Her comments followed remarks by Prime Minister Mark Carney that not having embassies in Iran and Venezuela put Canada “at a drawback.”
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
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