Iranian-Born Belgian MP Sounds Alarm Over Islamist Extremism in Europe

In its annual report released this week, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), says Iran has continued to conduct hostile activities in Canada and will “continue to target its perceived enemies even when living in foreign countries in support of its ultimate goal of regime preservation.”

CSIS called Iran’s external operations in Western countries “aggressive and expansive,” including lethal plots in the US, the UK, and several European countries.

Those activities included elicitation, cultivation, coercion, illicit financing, malicious cyber activities, and information manipulation.

“Iran and its intelligence services are interested in influencing and clandestinely collecting information on the Iranian community, including anti-regime activists and political dissidents; human, women’s and minority rights activists; and fugitives wanted by the regime,” the report read.

Earlier this week, Canadian parliamentarians unanimously voted on a non-binding motion calling for the Iranian regime’s paramilitary force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), as a terrorist entity and expelling approximately 700 Iranian agents from Canada.

While the Liberal party, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, supported a similar motion in 2018, the IRGC has not been listed as a terrorist organization. The government and experts often mention that some Iranians are obligated to join it during their mandatory military service.

In November 2022, CSIS first acknowledged that it was actively investigating what it called multiple "credible" death threats from Iran aimed at individuals in Canada, as reported by CBC News.

Subsequent reports by CBC News that year highlighted how Iranian dissidents in Canada said they were being watched and are under threat from the regime in Iran. Global News similarly reported in 2023 that Iranian dissidents live in fear of imminent harm from the Islamic Republic's agents.

Adding to those fears, the Iranian-Canadian diaspora has long warned the government that Canada harbors regime-affiliated officials on its soil.

Over a year following the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran in 2022 – and the diaspora’s continued calls not to allow regime-affiliated officials into the country – the government began taking some action to bar individuals from entering and began proceedings for deportations.

The diaspora has maintained that the current measures do not suffice and that if the IRGC were on the terrorist list, members who have gained Canadian citizenship would be responsible for crimes committed abroad and subject to much harsher penalties.

After Wednesday's vote, activists have urged to follow-through and finally designate the IRGC.

That included Iranian-Canadian dissident Hamed Esmaeilion, who lost his wife and daughter in January 2020, when the IRGC shot down Ukrainian Flight PS752 minutes after takeoff from Tehran.

The downing killed all 176 people onboard, which included 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

During the 4-year commemoration ceremony for the victims of the downing of PS752, Trudeau said his government is looking "for ways to responsibly list the IRGC as a terrorist organization."

Iran Continues to Target Canada in Cyber Operations

The CSIS report also said that cyber attacks carried out by the Islamic Republic target Canada.

“Iran combines offensive cyber operations with cyber-enabled influence operations to assist in the pursuit of its geopolitical goals,” according to the CSIS report. “Canada remains a target for opportunistic credential harvesting, phishing attacks, and exploitation of digital infrastructure to facilitate future targeting opportunities against individuals of interest.”

According to Microsoft's Threat Analysis Center (MTAC), Iran, Russia, and China will likely try to influence elections in the US and elsewhere in 2024.

In February, Iranian-Canadian MP Ali Ehsassi called for an investigation into Tehran's possible interference in the election.

“Given the catalog of malign and illegal activities committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran on Canadian soil, it would be naïve to believe that the Iranian regime has any compunction to shape public opinion in Canada,” he wrote to the Foreign Interference Commission, requesting testimony and relevant documents from Iranian-Canadians and others with substantial interests in the case.

Identified only as ASF17, the Iranian man argued that his detention was punitive.

He has also claimed that deportation would pose risks due to his sexual orientation and that he feared indefinite detention.

The Iranian man’s lawyers had hoped to use a precedent involving another asylum seeker – a Rohingya man. ​​That ruling found that the indefinite immigration detention for people with no reasonable prospect of deportation was unlawful.

In ASF17’s case, the court ruled that since there is a "real prospect of removal" his detention was lawful.

Australia’s High Court seemingly differentiated ASF17's case based on his non-cooperation.

The court stated that ASF17's return to Iran could be facilitated if he agreed to cooperate with the process of obtaining necessary travel documents from Iranian authorities.

"He has decided not to cooperate. He has the capacity to change his mind. He chooses not to do so," the justices noted, unanimously agreeing that his detention remains lawful under such circumstances.

Australia’s Immigration Minister Andrew Giles supported the court's decision, emphasizing that the government had vigorously defended its stance.

He highlighted the case's implications for broader immigration policies, stating, "We welcome today’s unanimous decision of the Court, which has found that individuals who are not cooperating with their own removal are able to remain in immigration detention until they are removed from Australia."

Australia has a policy of mandatory detention for all unauthorized arrivals. The policy applies to those who arrive without a valid visa, including asylum seekers who often resort to dangerous sea journeys arranged by smugglers.

Once intercepted, individuals are typically placed in immigration detention centers while their refugee claims are processed. This process can be lengthy, sometimes lasting for years, which often results in significant mental and physical health issues among detainees.

Signatories include international artists Coldplay, Sting, Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix, writer Margaret Atwood, and former Iranian-British hostage and campaigner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

“No artist should be subject to any kind of judicial harassment for exercising their right to freedom of expression, much less be sentenced to death,” their statement said on the Index on Censorship’s website.

Toomaj, known by his first name, has been a long-time critic of the regime in Iran and rose to further prominence when he spoke out in support of the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom protests in Iran.

Over the years, the rapper gained a considerable following through his music and lyrics, which criticized the Iranian state and its human rights violations.

He was one of the first dissidents abducted and detained in the Iranian authorities’ crackdown on the nationwide demonstrations.

“We are living somewhere horrific. You are dealing with a mafia that is prepared to kill an entire nation in order to keep its power, money and weapons,” the rapper told CBC News in an exclusive interview, shortly before his arrest.

Toomaj spent over a year in detention, which included 252 days in solitary confinement.

"As artists, musicians, writers and leading cultural figures we stand in solidarity with Toomaj Salehi. We call for his death sentence to be immediately and unconditionally quashed and for him to be released from detention without delay, with all other charges dismissed. Art must be allowed to criticize, to provoke, to question and to challenge authority. That is both our right and our duty as artists,” the statement by the world renowned figures read.

Following Toomaj’s release on bail in November 2023, the rapper recounted his experiences of torture in a video posted to YouTube. He was quickly re-arrested on charges of "corruption on earth."

Isfahan’s non-independent Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced the rapper to death on April 24.

The vessel's master reported being approached by a small craft carrying five or six armed people with ladders.

Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have launched drone and missile attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean since November to show support for the Palestinians in the Gaza war.

The attacks began after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on Muslims to blockade Israel.

Maritime sources say pirates may be encouraged by a relaxation of security or may be taking advantage of the chaos caused by attacks on shipping by the Iran-aligned Houthis.

After firing on the vessel, the people in the small craft were forced to abort their approach when the security team on the vessel returned fire, the UKMTO reported.

The vessel and its crew are reported to be safe, and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call, it said.

The Houthis have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels, prompting a large naval operation to protect vessels and counter-strikes by the United States and Britain.

The US is committed to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a press briefing on Thursday.

Earlier this week, in an interview with Al Jazeera, Kamal Kharrazi, an advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, warned that "if [Israel dares] to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, [Iran’s] level of deterrence will change."

"As the President and Secretary have made clear, the United States will ensure one way or another that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. We continue to use a variety of weapons – or sorry – a variety of tools in pursuit of that goal and all options remain on the table," Miller said in response.

Despite the warning from Kharrazi and Iran’s repeated noncompliance on its nuclear program, Miller acknowledged that diplomacy remains the preferred route for achieving a sustainable resolution.

The spokesperson did point out that diplomatic efforts are currently hindered due to Iran's recent escalatory actions and its lack of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In recent months, a number of officials close to the Supreme Leader have threatened that the Islamic Republic has the capability to build an atomic bomb.

“We have no decision to build a nuclear bomb but should Iran's existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine,” Kharrazi said, who previously served as Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and currently leads the Strategic Council of Foreign Relations.

The statement comes shortly after the visit of Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, to Tehran.

Grossi reported that there was “no timeframe or deadline” for Iran to resolve its nuclear issues, but he emphasized the expectation for Iran to take swift action.