Canadian security forces have foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate Irwin Cotler, a prominent Jewish former politician and human rights advocate, The Globe and Mail reported Monday. Cotler, 84, served as Canada’s justice minister and attorney general from 2003 to 2006 and has been an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime. On October 26, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) warned Cotler of an “imminent threat of assassination within 48 hours” by Iranian agents, according to sources cited by the newspaper. Authorities reportedly identified two suspects but have not disclosed whether they were apprehended or fled. The threat level was reportedly downgraded last week. The RCMP has not commented publicly on the case. Since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks in Israel, Cotler has been under 24/7 RCMP protection, including bulletproof vehicles and armed bodyguards. Cotler, founder of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, has been a vocal advocate for listing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity. He has also represented Iranian political prisoners and championed Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism during his tenure as Canada’s special envoy from 2020 to 2023. In an earlier interview, Cotler warned that democracies like Canada underestimate the threat posed by Iran. “These threats remind us of the dangers posed by regimes that target dissidents and advocates for human rights worldwide,” he said. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)