Police in Canada have determined that a missing Iranian activist was most likely the victim of murder, sparking concerns that his disappearance bears the hallmarks of a transnational repression campaign targeting critics of Tehran's theocratic government. Masood Masjoody, a mathematician critical of both Iran's theocratic government and the exiled family of the former shah, vanished in early February in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Authorities are still searching for Masjoody's body, and a spokesperson for the integrated homicide investigations team, part of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), stated that all evidence collected by investigators points to foul play. Sgt. Freda Fong said, "We are treating this as a homicide." Activists who have documented Iran's recent deadly crackdowns on protesters fear the disappearance reflects a policy of attempting to silence members of the diaspora community who criticize Iran's theocracy.
Masjoody earned his doctorate in mathematics from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, specializing in discrete mathematics and graph theory. He was hired as a sessional instructor that same year and taught mostly undergraduate courses, including one on analytical and quantitative reasoning. However, he clashed with the mathematics department, including disputes over his "alternative grading system" and class assignments. He also faced allegations of sexual harassment and made repeated misogynistic and violent social media posts targeting female colleagues. He was terminated for "just and reasonable cause" in 2020.
His subsequent 2021 lawsuit against the university and colleagues, which he lost, alleged a "conspiracy, weaponizing my personal life against me, defamation, and widespread cover-up" partly enabled by "malicious efforts on behalf of Khamenei's government." But he also warned Canadian authorities about what he believed was Iran's "alarming infiltration" of postsecondary institutions in the country, including at Simon Fraser University.
Most tips provided to police have come from the Iranian community, but Fong noted that unless a body is found, it can be "very difficult" to bring criminal charges. Police have provided little information on the scope of the investigation or any suspects. Fong said, "Any speculation over whether Iran was involved would be premature and compromise the integrity of the investigation," adding it was "understandable" that activists and the public consider it a possibility.
U.S.-based Alborz Pakravan, an exiled Iranian economist who worked with Masjoody in activist circles, said, "Masood was very vocal about his views and didn't shy away from telling the world about it. In the aftermath of the massacre [of protesters] in Iran, I am afraid this is part of the revenge campaign led by the Islamic Republic against dissidents abroad. It's impossible not to speculate that someone this vocal was a problem, and it points to the government weaponizing transnational repression to silence us."
In addition to warnings from Canada's intelligence agency about foreign interference from Iran, a 2024 report from the France-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime found that Iran relies on "clusters of foreign currency exchange brokers" to launder funds and finance terrorist proxies, including "nodes" in major Canadian cities like Toronto and Vancouver. That same year, Iran is believed to have targeted prominent critics within Canada. In November 2024, former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler said he had been the target of an alleged Iranian assassination plot. The RCMP warned Cotler, a fierce critic of Iran's government, of an "imminent assassination attempt within the next 48 hours."
The head of Canada's spy agency, Dan Rogers, said in November, "In particularly alarming cases over the last year, we've had to reprioritize our operations to counter the actions of Iranian intelligence services and their proxies who have targeted individuals they perceive as threats to their government. In more than one case, this involved detecting, investigating, and disrupting potentially lethal threats against individuals in Canada." Pakravan added that Masjoody's disappearance "has brought to light the consequences of speaking openly" against Tehran, urging governments to "take seriously how dangerous this government has been."
Source: www.theguardian.com