After President Donald Trump recently warned of Iranian “sleeper cells” possibly operating in North America, Canadian opposition lawmakers are accusing their government of allowing agents linked to Tehran’s regime to remain in the country.
Trump said on Wednesday that US authorities were monitoring Iranian networks that allegedly entered the United States in recent years.
The comments came amid growing concern among Western security officials about Iranian intelligence activities targeting critics abroad.
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A counter-protester holds an image of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a gathering of people supporting the Israeli-American conflict with Iran in front of the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 7, 2026. (Kyaw Soe Oo/Reuters)
In Canada, senior Conservatives say the government has failed to act against Iranian regime officials despite identifying individuals linked to Tehran.
Deputy Conservative Leader Melissa Lantsman, shadow immigration minister Michelle Rempel and Conservative Quebec lieutenant Pierre Paul-Hus called on the Liberal government in a statement released in Ottawa to submit a plan within a week to take immediate action to stop the Iranian regime’s activities in Canada.
“The Liberals have known for years that there are hundreds of Iranian regime officials in Canada, 239 of whom have had their visas revoked,” the lawmakers said.
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A counter-protester holds signs against the US-Israeli conflict with Iran during a rally of people supporting the war in front of the US consulate in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 7, 2026. (Kyaw Soe Oo/Reuters)
They added that government officials recently told a parliamentary immigration committee that only one person has been deported so far, citing legal hurdles including asylum claims, the lack of direct flights to Iran and privacy protections.
Shariatmadari is one of the faces of the ‘Girls of Revolution Street’ protests against Iran’s mandatory hijab laws. They fled Iran after being imprisoned and now live in exile in Canada.
“For years, the Iranian people have expressed concern about the presence of these individuals and their children in Canada,” Shariatmadari added.
“A clear example is Mahmoud Reza Khavari and Marjan Al-Agha, known embezzlers,” she claimed. Iran Wire reported this on the case in 2022. “Notably, an economics magazine that introduces entrepreneurs has presented the son of Mahmoud Reza Khavari – the former CEO of Bank Melli and a convicted criminal in Iran – as an ‘inspirational businessman’ in Canada and described him as ‘a young leader.’
“But today we are seeing more of these individuals,” Shariatmadari added. “Their presence has become more visible and they are organizing rallies under the slogan ‘No to war’ while expressing their support for Hamas and Hezbollah. Meanwhile, they have remained completely silent about the killing of Iranians.”
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Anti-Israel protesters gather outside the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Synagogue on March 7, 2024. The place of worship was one of three synagogues targeted in the first week of March 2026. (Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Some arrive as students, academics or ordinary immigrants, but were already connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps through family ties or ideological ties,” he said. “They often try to identify activists and critics so that these individuals can face legal or judicial problems, both in Iran and even abroad.”
Ghadimi said another category operates mainly through financial networks linked to the regime.
“Another group includes people who used to be members of the IRGC or other state institutions and later entered countries like Canada as private investors,” he said. “If someone brings several million dollars for investment, it raises questions about where that money comes from.”
He added that wealthy businessmen who move capital abroad may also do so with the permission of Iran’s security establishment.
“If someone takes large amounts of money out of Iran and invests abroad, it is very difficult to do that without the approval of the IRGC and the security institutions of the Islamic Republic,” he said.
Ghadimi also pointed to past corruption scandals involving Iranian officials moving large sums of money abroad, including the case of Khavari, who fled Iran after a major banking scandal and later settled in Canada.
The criticism comes as Canadian police investigate the disappearance of Iranian dissident Masood Masjoody, a mathematician and critic of Iran’s clerical leadership, who disappeared earlier this year in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Investigators with Canada’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team say there are indications that Masjoody was likely a murder victim, although authorities have not publicly identified any suspects and the investigation remains ongoing, according to The Guardian.
Police say investigators are looking into Masjoody’s background and personal history as part of the investigation, and Canadian media reports have noted aspects of his past that authorities are investigating as they try to determine a possible motive.
The case has raised concerns among Canada’s Iranian diaspora, many of whom have warned for years that Iran has been monitoring and intimidating critics abroad.
Conservatives argue that weaknesses in immigration enforcement have allowed individuals linked to the Iranian regime to remain in the country despite visa bans and sanctions imposed by Ottawa.
They call calls on the administration to urgently enforce deportation orders against Iranian regime officials, disrupt financial networks linked to Tehran, and establish a long-delayed register of foreign influence aimed at unmasking agents working on behalf of foreign governments.
“Liberals can take action today against the Iranian regime at home within our own borders,” they said in the statement. “There is too much at stake. We expect a plan within a week.”
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“It’s not complicated. The Iranian regime should not find a safe haven in Canada,” Lantsman said.
