Accused Of Planning To Kill Former Canadian Justice Minister, Iran: Misinformation Campaign

Illustration of foreign or intelligence spies. (Killian Cartignies-Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Canadian authorities claim to have thwarted the alleged murder plot of former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler allegedly masterminded by Iran.

The 84-year-old former Canadian Justice Minister is known to have criticized Iran so far.

Cotler retired from politics in 2015 but remains active in many associations fighting for human rights around the world.

The Globe and Mail newspaper reported that Cotler received information facing a direct threat of being killed by Iranian agents on October 26.

The newspaper added that Canadian authorities said two people were suspected of being involved in the plan.

Human Rights organizationcurrently Wallenberg, where Cotler was lined up as one of its top officials, confirmed a report published by the Globe and Mail. However, there are no details regarding the allegations of the murder plan.

"[Cotler] has no knowledge or details of the arrests made," said the organization's spokesman, Brandon Golfman.

Iran has denied the allegation on Monday. IRNA's official news agency reported that Iran's Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the US, Issa Kameli, said Canadian media were trying to publish news without solid evidence.

Iran denounced the report as "an ridiculous story and in line with a campaign of misinformation against Iran."

Spokesman for Canada's Minister of Public Security, Dominic LeBlanc, when asked for confirmation regarding this, declined to comment. "We cannot comment, or confirm certain RCMP (Canadian Royal Police) operations for security reasons," he told AFP.