Canadian intelligence: we foiled deadly Islamic Republic plots

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) confirmed on Friday, 30 October 2026, that in several specific cases it had foiled potentially lethal plots by the Islamic Republic's intelligence services and their proxies against people on Canadian soil. The confirmation comes a few days after DIAR's earlier report on twelve contract shootings in Toronto and the Islamic Republic's fingerprints on them.

Responding to questions from Iran International, CSIS said it does not disclose details of the cases in order to protect its sources and methods. In the agency's assessment, the Islamic Republic's threatening activities against Canada and its allies will continue throughout 2026, and its job is to identify, monitor and disrupt these plots together with the Canadian police and international partners.

The pattern of the contract shootings

The Toronto shootings followed a pattern: shots fired in the early morning hours from a stolen car at the entrances of specific buildings. The attackers, including local criminals and teenagers, were recruited through encrypted messaging apps and had to film the attack to get paid. Toronto police ballistic tests have linked the weapon used in one of these attacks to dozens of other shootings in the city.

The targets included the US consulate, synagogues and Jewish centres in Toronto, but opponents of the Islamic Republic were not spared either. The sports club of Salar Gholami, a political activist opposed to the Islamic Republic in Toronto, was hit by 17 bullets a few hours after news broke that Ali Khamenei had been killed.

The New York case and the role of Kataib Hezbollah

According to an indictment in a New York federal court, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saedi, a senior commander of the group "Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya", which is affiliated with Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah and operates under the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), planned or coordinated at least 18 armed attacks in Europe and two in Canada: the shooting at the US consulate in Toronto and at a synagogue.

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party and of Canada's official opposition, said in a statement that agents linked to the Islamic Republic are suspected of financing these shootings and that Canadian Jews and Iranian dissidents were the targets. He called for the immediate identification and expulsion of all IRGC agents in Canada.

Background

Dan Rogers, the director of CSIS, had already said in November 2025 that the agency had disrupted more than one potentially lethal Islamic Republic plot against people Tehran regards as its enemies. In February–March 2026 CSIS rated the threat level from the Islamic Republic and its proxies as "medium". The Canadian government has not yet officially attributed the Toronto shootings to the Islamic Republic.

Canada's intelligence service has confirmed that the Islamic Republic plotted to kill people on Canadian soil.