Canadian authorities have foiled an alleged plot by Iran to assassinate a former justice minister and human rights activist who has been a vocal critic of Tehran. gloves and mail The newspaper reported.
Irwin Cotler, 84, served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General from 2003 to 2006, but retired from politics in 2015.
The Globe and Mail said he was informed last month that he faced an imminent threat of assassination by Iranian agents within 48 hours.
Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper reported that authorities had tracked down two suspects involved in the plot.
“For security reasons, we are unable to comment or confirm the specific activities of the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police),” a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc told AFP.
Jean-Yves Duclos, a senior minister in the government of Quebec, where Mr. Cotler lives, said the allegations of conspiracy “must have been very difficult for (Mr. Cotler) and his family and friends in particular to hear about.”
Kotler had already been under police protection for more than a year after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack in Israel.
He is Jewish and advocates globally for listing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
Kotler's name also reportedly came up in the FBI's investigation into Iran's murder-for-hire operation in New York in 2022, which targeted American human rights activist Masih Alinejad.
Ottawa, which severed diplomatic ties with Iran more than a decade ago, designated the Revolutionary Guards as a banned terrorist organization in June.
As a lawyer, Mr. Kotler also represented political prisoners and dissidents in Iran. He is also the international president of the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights and a strong supporter of Israel.
His daughter, Michal Kotler Wansch, is an Israeli politician and diplomat who previously served as a member of Israel's parliament.
