In rare public appearance, Canada's intelligence chief says foiled 'lethal threats' from Iran
Dan Rogers, in Ottawa, Canada, on February 1, 2024. PHOTO: Patrick Doyle / Zuma Press / Profimedia
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) foiled potentially lethal threats from Iran this year against people in Canada considered by Tehran to be enemies, the agency's director said in a rare public speech on Thursday, according to Reuters.
Dan Rogers, appointed to lead the domestic intelligence service, shared some details during the annual presentation of security threats to Canada.
Reuters notes that CSIS directors rarely appear in public.
CSIS had said in August only that it was investigating Iranian threats. Rogers now revealed that “in particularly alarming cases over the past year, we have had to change the priority of our operations to counter actions by Iranian intelligence services and their proxies that have targeted individuals perceived as threats” to the regime in Tehran.
“Not just in one case, this involved detecting, investigating and preventing potentially lethal threats against individuals in Canada,” he added. This was the first confirmation of CSIS intervention to protect critics of Iran on Canadian soil, notes Agerpres.
Canada has particularly bad relations with Iran, with which it severed diplomatic ties in 2012. Last year, the government in Ottawa declared Iran's Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization, a decision condemned by the Iranian side.
Rogers also said Thursday that agents of the service he leads have blocked attempts by Russia to illegally acquire Canadian products and technology.
CSIS acted to thwart those attempts “by informing several Canadian companies that front companies in Europe trying to buy their products actually had ties to Russian agents.”
According to the director, the alerted companies took immediate steps to repel the Russians.
Canada is also critical of Russia and its invasion of Ukraine, launched in 2022.
