When Canada pre-emptively expelled Iran's diplomats from Ottawa and closed its embassy in Tehran last September, some felt this was a hasty move inspired by an overzealous government at best or by pro-Israeli zealots at worst.
As critics will say, there may have been alternative methods for dealing with concern over Iran's activity in Canada, such as downsizing their presence as opposed to prohibiting it. But perhaps Canadian officials could see the writing on the wall, as they corroborated their own experience with the Islamic Republic to reports of similar subversive activity throughout the Hemisphere.
In the midst of the holiday season, on December 28, 2012, President Barack Obama signed into law the "Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act of 2012," (H.R. 3783) a bill originally sponsored by Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC) that quietly and smoothly swept through both houses before the end of the legislative session. This Act seeks to initiate a whole-of-government approach to what looks to be an increasing threat to the United States, and by extension to Canada as well.
Iran is the most ardent state sponsor of terror in the world. The Western Hemisphere has been victim of Iranian terror in the past, as a group of Iranian spies and proxies masterminded the second largest terrorist attack in the Americas, bombing the Israeli embassy and AMIA Jewish community center in 1992 and 1994, respectively, killing a total of 114 people. This attack paved the way for the growing presence of radical Islamists and the feared Iranian revolutionary guards into Latin America.
In the past five years, there have been at least two clear-cut cases by which the Islamic Republic has used Latin America to stage attempted terrorist attacks within the United States.
The first, and most recent, was foiled on October 11, 2011 when U.S. authorities revealed "Operation Red Coalition" by arresting two Iranian nationals, charging them with a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Adel al-Jubeir, as he dined in Washington D.C.
What was "unusual" in this case was not the claim that Iranians went after a Saudi target on U.S. soil, but rather that they tried to outsource this delicate operation to high-profile Mexican drug cartels. One of the Iranians charged in this case, Mansour Arbabsiar, traveled repeatedly to Mexico to make such arrangements. Fortunately, the source that he thought was a member of a Mexican drug cartel turned out to be a DEA informant. Unbeknownst to Arbabsiar, he continued passing the information up the food chain, as his handler Gholam Shakuri authorized the attack. Shakuri was a member of the Qod's force, the special operations wing of the revolutionary guards -- and is still at large.
A week before Arbabsiar was to be arrested at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, an Imam from Trinidad and Tobago, Kareem Ibrahim, stood in court to face charges for attempting to blow up this very same airport in 2007.
Ibrahim's partner-in-crime was a former Guyanese MP, Abdul Kadir, who maintained a longstanding relationship with the infamous Iranian cleric Mohsen Rabbani. Rabbani is the former cultural attaché of the Iranian embassy in Argentina, and purported mastermind of the Buenos Aires bombings of the 90s.
Both Ibrahim and Kadir were arrested in 2007 in Trinidad en route to Venezuela where they were going to board a direct flight to Tehran to meet with none other than Rabbani. Ibrahim and Kadir were just sentenced to life in prison earlier this month.
Canada is no stranger to the Islamic terrorist threat. The millennium bomber -- Ahmed Ressam, the Toronto 18, and Omar Khadr, among other high profile cases, have brought radical Islam to the forefront of Canadian national security. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called radical Islam the biggest threat to Canada and promised to diffuse this threat during his administration. Closing the embassy of the Islamic Republic in Ottawa last year shows that Minister Harper is serious on his promise.
Michael Petrou, an award-winning journalist from Maclean's magazine, has been at the forefront in presenting compelling evidence to the public about Iran's subversive activity in Canada. In various columns, Petrou has provided plenty of examples of subversion, including connections between a student group at Carleton University as well as an Islamic cultural center in Toronto, both suspiciously linked to the Iranian embassy in Ottawa. All throughout, Petrou documents cases of Iranian-Canadians being offered all-expense-paid trips to Iran.
These same offers and connections are being made throughout the Hemisphere and what Iran does as far south as the Andes has ramifications in Canada and vice versa. For instance, when Canada expelled Iranian diplomats last year, one such diplomat, Hassan Doutagui, hopped on a flight to Ecuador to continue the Iranian mission in the Hemisphere. Ecuador has become one of Iran's largest money-laundering hubs in Latin America.
Tehran has adamantly criticized Obama's move to strengthen U.S. efforts towards the Islamic Republic, but the most recent "Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act" presents an opportunity for not only the U.S. but also Canada and Mexico to increase dialogue and cooperation on a threat that permeates all three countries and more.
Joseph M. Humire is the Executive Director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), a global think tank based out of Washington D.C., and co-founder of the Cordoba Group International LLC, a strategic consulting firm that provides research and analysis for U.S. and international clients.
Of course, Iran is not happy about these sanctions; sanctions that come with acusations that are unfounded, impossible to prove.
Why is it shocking that Iran is taking action against countries that enact these sanctions with no foundation? How come we don't comment on US and their invasions of other countries in this same context? Terrorism is such a misrepresented word in North America. America labels any foreign group as a terrorist organization if they oppose anything the US sees in it's best interests. Case in point, Julian Assange.
Perhaps if US and Canada would stop meddling in other countries affairs there would be less hate directed back at them. I am not suggested isolationism but rather diplomatic conversation.
I don't see Iran being aggressive towards France, Russia, China or Japan... I am sure they are no more allies than US or Canada would be considered.
I'm not defending the retaliation, just noting that it should be no surprise. If you give hate, you get it in return. There are at least two sides to every story.
It'd be easier to keep Canada safe if we weren't projecting hate and dominance towards others.
As you say, there is a limit to everything - and despite all we have done to them Iran has not seriously responded, although it would seem that by our standards they could and should. The reason they have not is obvious - they are not capable of threatening us, and can not even defend themselves against us. That is why all talk of the 'threat' from Iran is absurd.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/19/assange-high-tech-terrorist-biden
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/us-calls-assange-enemy-of-state-20120927-26m7s.html
I will concede that it might have been smart to pull Canadian diplomatic personnel from Iranian soil because they can't be deemed to be reasonably safe with the very real possibility of an Israeli and/or US attack on Iran in the offing, but kicking the Iranians our of Canada was indefensible.
The West should be trying to engage Iran constructively, not shutting it down and sanctioning it economically. All that those tactics do is reaffirm the Iranian view that the West is out to get them. This strengthens the hand of the Iranian government and increases Iranian support for the idea of developing nuclear weapons capability, even among the pro-Western, more or less democratic sympathizers within Iran.
It's a little strange to lump two terrorist attacks several years apart together to make the claim that it is the second largest terror attack in North America (which it isn't, anyway; Air India, Oklahoma, and Avianca Flight 203 were more significant). And in the second and more serious of those attacks, the AMIA bombing, evidence of Iranian complicity is essentially speculation. But of course, including those attacks would somewhat undermine the author's points, as none of those attacks featured Islamic terrorists, let alone Iran. Whether or not Iran is the world's largest supporter of terror, I cannot say, though the West tends to have selective blindness in counting acts of terror by our "enemies" and ignoring those of our friends.
Islamic terror has been at the forefront of Canadian national security since 9/11. And while it is a serious issue, I daresay that economic upheaval in the United States and elsewhere (as well as weaknesses in our own economy) is probably a far more serious threat to our well-being than terrorism ever has been, or ever will be. Canada survived Air India without needing to completely undermine our freedoms and international standing.
Finally, what, exactly, is the Center for a Secure Free Society? There is little-to-no information available anywhere about this organization, or why the author ought to be considered a "Global Security Expert".
On the other hand you have to admire the Iranian spirit. They come right out and say they will destroy Israel, the US, the West, and everyone will do it their way in time. A lot of nations would say "Live and let live" in public while stabbing you in the back privately. Our politicians are just not used to such straight talk. Church and state. Bad combination. Nobody elects the leaders of a church but the church faithful.