More than 700 Iran agents in Canada pose national security threat, MP warns

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

There are at least 700 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members in Canada who pose a national security threat, a Canadian member of Parliament warns. The IRGC is part of the Iranian armed forces. 

“We have 700 IRGC agents, whom we know about, who are currently active in this country,” Melissa Lantsman, a conservative MP for Thornhill, Ontario, said during a recent parliamentary debate. She also said Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree “could not even tell us if there was more than one who has been expelled.”

Iranian refugees and Canadians of Iranian descent are “terrified that the repression and reach of that regime is right here in our country,” she said. “We know of senior members of the regime who have worked out in the same gyms as they have, a neighborhood gym in my own constituency. We know of senior members of the regime eating in fancy steak houses. We know of senior members of the regime's kids who are studying in universities here.

“There has been violence in our communities. There have been people kidnapped. There have been, potentially, murders because of the reach of the mullah's thugs.”

She also held a news conference stating that IRGC “agents presently on Canadian soil are using Canada as a safe haven to organize and to fundraise and to terrorize diaspora communities right here at home.”  

Anandasangaree later said “individuals who are believed to be members of IRGC  are being thoroughly investigated by the Canada Border Service agencies. They're going through the legal process of being removed. Some have already been removed. We will continue to ensure that every single member who is inadmissible to Canada will be removed.”

Lantsman said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was “nowhere to be found” as the debate on the threat of Iran to Canadians continued in parliament. 

Carney has provided mixed messages on the U.S./Israel strike against Iran, first stating he supported it “with regret.” He also said it was a “failure of international order” and occurred without “engaging the United Nations or consulting with allies, including Canada,” BBC News reported. Two days later, he said the strikes “were inconsistent with international law.”

The Canadian warning comes as The Center Square has reported on northern border national security and terrorism threats for years. Sources have told The Center Square that the national security crisis is largely due to Trudeau-era visa policies that admitted men considered “Special Interest Aliens” into the country, including a member of ISIS who later went on to plan a terrorist attack in Toronto.

It also has to do with a lack of resources or political will to address a massive international crime ring involved in drug trafficking, organized crime, human smuggling and money laundering in Canada. Several Canadian groups have called on Canadian authorities to address the threat, noting that the government doesn’t even have data about several threats it's requested. 

The Canadian-U.S.-Future Borders Coalition, Canadian Center of North American Prosperity and Security, and others are also working with Texas leaders to develop national security solutions, The Center Square reported. 

Last February, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the U.S.-Canada border after a record number of illegal border crossers were reported entering the U.S. from Canada. Among them were the greatest number of known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) apprehended coming from Canada as terrorist arrests soared under the Biden and Trudeau administrations, The Center Square first reported.

Last December, the Trump administration identified at least 18,000 KSTs released into the U.S. during the Biden administration. The total also included 2,000 Afghans released into the U.S. with “have ties to terrorist organizations,” The Center Square reported.

An additionL 1,500 Iranians were apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol agents after they illegally entering the U.S. nationwide from 2021 to 2024. Nearly half, 729, were released into the country who weren’t properly vetted, authorities told The Center Square in an exclusive report.

The Center Square obtained the data after Trump authorized the use of American-built B2 bombers to strike three nuclear facilities in Iran last June. 

Nine months later, a U.S./Israel attack against Iran is entering its third week and concerns are growing about retaliatory Iranian terrorist attacks on U.S. and Canadian soil.

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