More than 100 Iranian-Canadians call for party probe of Conservative nomination race

More than 100 IranianCanadians sent a letter to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Tuesday calling for an investigation of the party's handling of allega‐ tions of Iranian regime in‐ terference in an Ontario riding nomination race.

Those who signed the let‐ ter include academics, physi‐ cians and people who lost loved ones on Flight PS752 when it was shot down by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 2020.

Kaveh Shahrooz, an out‐ spoken critic of Iran's regime, announced on social media last month that he was with‐ drawing from the Conserva‐ tive nomination contest in the federal riding of Rich‐ mond Hill. He said he faced "unprecedented" foreign in‐ terference and intimidation during his campaign.

Shahrooz also said his pleas to the party for more time to campaign and push back against the interference went "unheeded."

"While I wish the party well, I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed with their approach to this issue," Shahrooz wrote in his media statement on February 22.

Shahrooz launched his campaign on February 14. The Conservative Party told party members in Richmond Hill on February 21 that the vote would happen on March 6 and any new party mem‐ berships would have to be received by February 23 in order to allow those new members to vote in the nom‐ ination.

Shahrooz said that while the party chooses the date of nomination votes, he was left with little time to campaign. He said he wonders if the party "simply wanted to wash their hands clean of a candi‐ date that had become con‐ troversial."

The Conservative Party has not yet responded to CBC's request for comment, submitted Tuesday morning.

The letter to Poilievre says the undersigned are "deeply disappointed by what we perceive as your party's fail‐ ure to detect and combat the influence of the Islamic Re‐ public in your election."

"We urge the [Conserva‐ tive Party of Canada] to thor‐ oughly investigate the cir‐ cumstances surrounding the decision regarding the nomi‐ nation date in Richmond Hill, including any potential influ‐ ence, whether direct or indi‐ rect, from elements associ‐ ated with the Iranian Regime, and to take decisive steps to safeguard the integrity of our democratic processes," the letter says.

The Conservative Party has repeatedly accused the federal government of failing to take the issue of foreign political interference serious‐ ly. The party called for a pub‐ lic inquiry into foreign inter‐ ference after media reports last year accused China of in‐ terfering in the past two fed‐ eral elections. That inquiry is expected to resume some‐ time this month.

Letter calls for meeting with Poilievre

The letter endorses Shahrooz's claim that Tehran amplified disinformation about him online to prevent a critic of the regime from being elected. The letter says the signatories want to meet with Poilievre to talk about it.

"As people who observe the Iranian regime's behavi‐ our online, we are certain that the amplification was in‐ organic and completely con‐ sistent with the behaviour of the regime's so-called 'Cyber Army,'" the letter says.

The letter says it's "essen‐ tial to recognize" foreign in‐ terference isn't "carried out by those who openly declare themselves supporters of the Iranian Regime."

"It can manifest in diverse guises, including from indi‐ viduals or groups mas‐ querading as opponents of the regime," the letter reads. "The complexities surround‐ ing Iranian regime influence are multifaceted, akin to nav‐

igating a labyrinthine mafia structure. This regime oper‐ ates with a sprawling and in‐ tricate web of proxies, adeptly extending its reach even into opposition fac‐ tions."

CBC has not indepen‐ dently verified allegations of foreign interference in the Richmond Hill nomination race. CBC has asked the Canadian Security Intelli‐ gence Service (CSIS) if it be‐ lieves Shahrooz was targeted by Iran's regime.

CSIS said it does not com‐ ment on the "possible exis‐ tence or non-existence of a specific investigation."

CSIS said foreign interfer‐ ence is on the rise and Iran is one of the countries attempt‐ ing to "covertly influence de‐ cisions, events or election outcomes to better suit their strategic interests." CSIS also said that nomination processes are one aspect of Canada's democratic system that can be exploited.

WATCH: Exposing how Iran tracks and threatens people in Canada

Thomas Juneau, an asso‐ ciate professor of interna‐ tional affairs at the University of Ottawa, said Iran's security and intelligence community is "extremely active online" and employs both human agents and bots to target dis‐ sidents abroad by amplifying social media posts that deni‐ grate them.

"They will accuse them of being terrorists, they will ac‐ cuse them of being members of groups that are unpopular in Iran or elsewhere," said Juneau.

Shahrooz said he faced a coordinated online campaign alleging he was connected to groups with which he has no affiliation.

One Farsi-language post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that was viewed by CBC News alleged there were suspicions that the People's Mojahedin Organization had bankrolled Shahrooz's nomi‐ nation campaign. That group, also known as Mujahedin-eKhalq, or MEK, is an Iranian dissident group that was lis‐ ted as a terrorist organiza‐ tion in Canada until 2012.

Shahrooz said the claim is false and he has no connec‐ tion to MEK. The tweet has gotten more than 174,000 views.

WATCH: CSIS investigating death threats from Iran against people in Canada

Conservative Ontario MPP

Goldie Ghamari - herself a prominent Canadian critic of the Iranian regime - circu‐ lated that social media post alleging a link between MEK and Shahrooz's campaign.

Ghamari also published online her own text message exchange with Shahrooz indi‐ cating that he asked her for her "thoughts and advice" on his nomination campaign.

"My message to IranianCanadian opportunists: keep my name out of your mouth," Ghamari posted on X about Shahrooz.

"Especially if you have a shady and undisclosed nomi‐ nation campaign fundraising background. If you reach out to me, I won't give you ad‐ vice. Instead, I will cancel you. We pro-democracy and anti-IRGC/MEK Iranian-Cana‐ dians see you. You've been warned."

Ghamari did not respond to CBC's request for com‐ ment.

Shahrooz told CBC News that he expected attacks, but what he experienced "went far beyond the traditional mudslinging of nomination campaigns."

"In the span of two weeks, my name trended twice on Twitter," he said. "There is no reason why a relatively un‐ known candidate in a rela‐ tively obscure race for a nomination in a 905 riding needs to organically get that kind of attention."

He said he's seen scores of Farsi social media posts about him, some of which have received hundreds of thousands of views. He al‐ leges the attention was "manufactured by a foreign state."

"I 100 per cent believe Iran's cyber army was in‐ volved," said Shahrooz. "That doesn't mean that every neg‐ ative thing written about me was written by the cyber ar‐ my. What it does mean is that the cyber army played an important role in amplify‐ ing the mudslinging."

The MEK is widely disliked by Iranians generally and being affiliated with the group is a "mark of death," Shahrooz said. He said affilia‐ tion with this group is often a capital crime in Iran.

He said several of his campaign volunteers said they feared their loved ones could be targeted because they worked on Shahrooz's campaign. He said one volun‐ teer told him she had to drop out of his campaign because her father was traveling to Iran soon.

Shahrooz said he was tar‐ geted for intimidation per‐ sonally online and his loca‐ tion was posted on social media.

"This guy Kaveh Shahrooz is meeting everyday with a bunch of old people at the Tim Hortons at Steeles & Bayview," said one tweet in Farsi. "Traitors be damned."

"That post sent shivers down my spine," Shahrooz said. "It frightened me be‐ cause it suggested to me that my movements were now being monitored and they were being reported."

Shahrooz said that when he took his allegations to the Conservative Party, they told him to contact the security services. He said he's re‐ ported his allegations to CSIS.

Those who signed the let‐ ter wrote that the Conserva‐ tive Party's decision to set the nomination date when it did "effectively eliminated" Shahrooz, "who had just launched his campaign and initiated his membership dri‐ ve."

Shahrooz also tried to se‐ cure the Liberal nomination in Richmond Hill in 2015. He lost to Majid Jowhari, who went on to win the seat.