Iran's Operatives in Canada

"Definitely there is recruitment - they want Iranians with Canadian passports, Iranians with U.S. passports.  Canada is not of the highest rank among the enemies of Iran, and so it is more likely this (cultural program exists) for possible recruitment for use in the United States - anything from intelligence gathering, to being an intermediary in the recruitment of others, or to actually carrying out an attack." Steven Emerson, executive director of Washington-based Investigative Project on Terrorism

Under current circumstances - under circumstances of quite long standing in fact - one can only wonder why Canada hosts the Embassy of Iran at all.  But there it is, the Islamic Republic of Iran is enabled to retain its embassy in Ottawa.  Although it is restricted to Ottawa only; the Republic is not permitted to operate consulates elsewhere within Canada. 

The theory being, one supposes, that it is better to keep some lines of communication open, and to confine one's enemy to a limited presence, the better to keep track of what they get up to.

What they've been getting up to has been clear enough; a fairly recent conference convened by a Carleton University student group associated with the cultural attache of the Iranian Embassy had as its purpose the opportunity to celebrate the life and times and the sea change that took place when Shah Pahlevi's reign was overturned and the exiled Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from France to oversee that revolution.

The Embassy of Iran, representing the interests of the country, has also been involved in attempting to repress the viewing of documentaries that clearly are meant to reveal to those interested just how venomously sinister and human-rights-abusing the country is in its zeal to take what it sees as its historical, rightful role as the primary and most illustrious defender of the faith. 

The fundamentalist Sharia brand of Islam that is celebrated in Iran comes complete with instructions from on high to obtain nuclear warheads.  And, if the country to which Iran's diplomats have been assigned is less than friendly toward the Republic, there are covert plans to effect changes that can be of obvious value to the regime which has reached pariah status because of its nuclear aspirations throughout much of the free world. 

Alerted by anti-regime Canadians of Iranian descent - although we would like to believe that Canada's security agents have a prior inside track on knowledge of the plan - the embassy personnel are involved in efforts to recruit expatriate Iranians to their cause.

The embassy's cultural affairs counsellor stationed at the Iranian embassy recently was interviewed in Farsi on an Iran-based website whose purpose it is to communicate with Iranians living in Canada.  Hamid Mohammadi speaks of those Iranian-Canadians as being imbued with exceptional characteristics that "set them apart" from other immigrants and who have "decisively preserved strong attachments and bonds to their homeland".

He makes mention of the "younger second generation" that has been absorbed in the Canadian way of life, "working in influential government positions".   And he goes on to urge all Iranian-Canadians to work toward a purpose to "occupy high-level key positions", while doing their duty to Iran to "resist being melted into the dominant Canadian culture".  And, in this way they can be ideally placed to be of service to their original country which calls out to them.

This interview sets out Iran's intention to recruit Iranians in Canada into doing double duty; while occupying positions of influence in Canada, they can also involve themselves in the important work of representing the interests of their homeland, Iran.  "By 2031, the total immigrant population of Canada will increase by 64%, and the number of Iranians will increase due to birthrate", he states on the website Iranians Residing Abroad (iranyad.ir).

"Multiculturalism is killing Canada.  I am sick and tired of political correctness in this country.  When you become a Canadian citizen, virtually no one can touch you, and so these people can easily get to the United States.  The only solution is to close the Iranian embassy in Ottawa", claimed Shabnam Assadollahi, an anti-regime Iranian-Canadian who helped translate the Mohammadi interview.