(Ottawa) Canada and several of its NATO allies published a joint statement on Thursday, condemning an increasing number of state threats from Iranian intelligence services.
The joint declaration says that countries are united in their opposition to attempts to “kill, remove and harass” people in North America and Europe.
The declaration was also signed by the governments of Albania, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
It indicates that Iranian intelligence services are increasingly collaborating with international criminal organizations to target journalists, dissidents, Jewish citizens and current and former government officials.
The declaration does not cite any specific incident, but indicates that attacks violate the sovereignty of countries and call on the Iranian authorities to end “immediately” to these illegal activities.
The Canadian press contacted Global Affairs Canada to get comments, but has not yet received an answer.
In 2022, Ottawa banished Iranian leaders from the Canadian territory, including senior government officials and security agencies because of their involvement in acts of terrorism and human rights violations.
The Canada Border Services Agency announced last month that three people had been deemed unacceptable in Canada in recent years because they were senior Iranian regime officials. Expulsion measures have been taken against them, and one of them was dismissed from Canada.
Hostilities in the Middle East have drawn more attention to the possible activities of Iranian regime representatives in Canada. The border agency said it is closely collaborating with its national and international partners by sharing relevant information on border and national security issues.
Canada has had no diplomatic presence in Iran since 2012.
With information from Jim Bronskill, David Baxter and Dylan Robertson
