More than 100 Iranian-Canadians sent a letter to Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poièvre on Tuesday, calling for an investigation into the party’s response to allegations of Iranian regime interference in the Ontario riding nomination race.
Those who signed the letter include academics, doctors, and those who lost loved ones on Flight PS752, which was shot down by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2020.
Kaveh Shahrouz, an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime, announced on social media last month that he was withdrawing from the Conservative nomination contest at the Commonwealth Equestrian in Richmond Hill. He said he faced “unprecedented” foreign interference and intimidation during his campaign.
Charouz also said that his pleas to the party to spend more time campaigning and resisting interference had “fallen on deaf ears”.
“I wish the party well, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed in the party’s approach to this issue,” Shahrouz said in a February 22 media statement.
Mr. Charouz began his campaign on February 14th. The Conservative Party told members in Richmond Hill on February 21st that the vote would be held on March 6th and new members must register by February 23rd to be allowed to vote. I told you. By nomination.
Mr. Charouz said his party would decide the date for the nomination vote, leaving him with little time to campaign. He wondered if the party “just wanted to wash its hands of a controversial candidate.”
The Conservative Party has not yet responded to CBC’s request for comment submitted Tuesday morning.
In a letter to Poièvre, the signatories said: “We are deeply disappointed by what we perceive to be your party’s failure to detect and counter Islamic Republic influence in the election.”
“we, [Conservative Party of Canada] We will thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the decision regarding the nomination date in Richmond Hill, including any potential influence, direct or indirect, from elements associated with the Iranian regime, and ensure that the integrity of our democratic process is maintained. “We must take decisive steps to protect sexuality.” says the letter.
The Conservative Party has repeatedly accused the federal government of not taking the issue of foreign political interference seriously. The party called for a public inquiry into foreign interference after media reports last year accused China of interfering in the past two federal elections. That investigation is scheduled to be resumed sometime this month.
Letter requesting a meeting with Mr. Poilievre
The letter supports Shahrouz’s claims that the Iranian government amplified disinformation about him online to prevent the election of regime critics. The letter states that the signatories would like to meet Mr. Poilievre to discuss the matter.
“As observers of the Iranian regime’s actions online, we believe this amplification is inorganic and fully consistent with the actions of the regime’s so-called ‘cyber army,'” the letter said. ing.
The letter states that it is essential to recognize that “foreign intervention is not carried out by people who openly declare themselves to be supporters of the Iranian regime.”
“They may appear in a variety of forms, including individuals or groups posing as opponents of the regime,” the letter states. “The complexities surrounding the Iranian regime’s influence are multifaceted and akin to navigating a labyrinthine mafia structure. They are skillfully extending this to include anti-government forces.”
The CBC has not independently verified the allegations of foreign interference in the Richmond Hill nomination contest. CBC asked the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) whether it believed Shahrouz had been targeted by the Iranian regime. CSIS has not yet responded.
CSIS recently confirmed multiple “credible” death threats from Iran targeting Canadians. CBC News chief correspondent Adrian Arsenault met with several Iranians who described their experiences of being monitored and threatened on Canadian soil.
Thomas Juneau, an associate professor of international relations at the University of Ottawa, said Iran’s security and intelligence services are “very active online,” using both human agents and bots to slander foreign dissidents on social networks. He said they are amplifying and targeting media posts.
“They will denounce them as terrorists, they will denounce them as members of groups that are unpopular in Iran and other countries,” Juneau said.
Mr Shahrouz said he faced an organized online campaign claiming he was affiliated with unaffiliated groups.
One Farsi-language post on X (formerly Twitter) seen by CBC News claimed that the People’s Mojahedin Organization is suspected of funding Shahroz’s nomination campaign. The group, also known as Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), is an Iranian opposition group listed as a terrorist organization. He lived in Canada until 2012.
Mr. Shahrouz said the allegations were false and that he had no ties to the MEK. The tweet has been viewed more than 174,000 times.
CSIS is one of a group of international spy agencies investigating “credible” death threats originating from Iran against people abroad, including in Canada.
Conservative Ontario MP Goldie Ghamali, herself a prominent Canadian critic of the Iranian regime, circulated a social media post alleging ties between the MEK and the Shahrouz camp.
Ms. Galmali also posted online text message exchanges with Ms. Shahrouz, showing that Mr. Shahrouse asked her for “thoughts and advice” on his nomination campaign.
“A message to all you Iranian-Canadian opportunists: Please don’t mention my name,” Ghamari posted on X about Shahrouz.
“Especially if you have a shady, undisclosed campaign fundraising history. If you contact me, I will not advise you. Instead, I will advise you. Cancel. We pro-democracy and Counter-Revolutionary Guards/MEK Iranian Canadians believe: You have been warned.”
Gamali did not respond to CBC’s request for comment.
Charouz told CBC News that he expected the attack, but what he experienced was “far beyond the traditional mudslinging of a nomination campaign.”
“In two weeks, my name trended on Twitter twice,” he said. “There is no reason why a relatively unknown candidate in the race for the 905 riding nomination should necessarily attract such attention.”
He said he has seen many Persian-language social media posts about him, some of which have garnered hundreds of thousands of views. He claimed the attention was “engineered by foreign countries.”
“I 100% believe that Iranian cyber forces were involved,” Shahrouz said. “That doesn’t mean that all the negative things written about me were written by the Cyber Army. What it does mean is that the Cyber Army played an important role in escalating the feud. is.”
The MEK is widely hated by Iranians in general, and joining the group is a “symbol of death,” Shahrouz said. He said involvement in the organization is often a crime punishable by death in Iran.
He said some campaign volunteers feared their loved ones would be targeted for participating in Mr. Shahrouz’s campaign. He said one of the volunteers told him he had to cancel his campaign because his father was traveling to Iran soon.
Shahrouz said he was the subject of personal threats online and his whereabouts posted on social media.
“This man, Kaveh Shahrouz, meets a lot of old people every day at Tim Hortons at Steeles & Bayview,” he tweeted in Farsi. “Cursed be the traitors.”
“Seeing that post sent shivers down my spine,” he said. “I was scared because I thought my movements were being monitored and reported.”
Mr Charouz said he took his allegations to the Conservative Party, which told him to contact the security services. He said he had reported his allegations to CSIS.
The signatories of the letter wrote that the Conservative Party had set the nomination date at a time when it had “effectively eliminated” Mr Charouz, who had “just launched his campaign and started campaigning for membership”.
Shahrouz also sought the Liberal nomination in Richmond Hill in 2015, but lost to Majid Jowari, who won the seat.
