Iran’s growing influence may be missed as inquiry begins, experts warn

The highly anticipatedpublic inquiry into foreign election interference is set to begin Monday, examining how countries like China, Russia and India may have tried to meddle in Canadian democracy.

But some national security experts warn Iran’s growing influence may be missed, despite how far the regime has“spread its tentacles” in Canada.

“Any country on which we have substantive information of engaging in foreign interference should be included,” Dick Fadden, former head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told host Mercedes Stephenson in an interview with The West Block.

“To ignore Iran, given the public information we have about Iran, will just raise questions the (commission) won’t be able to answer,” added Fadden who is expected to testify at the inquiry on Wednesday.

Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, a Quebec Court of Appeal judge, leads the probe and will have just three months to produce her findings on one of Canada’s most complex national security challenges. Her interim report is due May 3, with a final report due by the end of the year.

The commission’s terms of reference instruct it to examine how China, Russia and other “foreign state or non-state actors” may have tried to influence the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

On Wednesday, India was added to the list. The commission requested records related to that country and allegations of interference on Canadian soil.

But Iran has not been mentioned outright, despite deepening concerns about its attempt to intimidate Iranian Canadians.

A Global News’ investigation by the current affairs program The New Reality suggested associates of the Iranian regime were operating in Canada, including some who threatened Iranian diaspora communities in the country.

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