Iranian mathematician missing in Canada may have been targeted by Tehran, activists say (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 month ago by breakfastmtn@piefed.ca to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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Police say Masood Masjoody was most likely murdered; Iranian expats suspect he was killed for his criticism of the theocratic regime

Police in Canada have concluded that a missing Iranian activist was most likely the victim of murder, prompting fears that his disappearance has the hallmarks of a transnational repression campaign targeting critics of Tehran.

Masood Masjoody, a mathematician critical of both Iran’s theocratic regime and the exiled family of the former shah, went missing in early February in the city of Burnaby, British Columbia.

Police are still searching for Masjoody’s body, and a spokesperson for the integrated homicide investigations team, which is part of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), said all of the evidence investigators have collected indicates foul play.

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[-] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 17 points 1 month ago

To be entirely honest Iran has bigger concerns rn. Why the hell would they kill some random dude in canada for being critical of them when they are being bombarded. Their children are being murdered. I am not gonna trust some random dude's allegation on this. It honestly just sounds like western news media latching on to whatever petty slander it can manage.

[-] khannie@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

He went missing a month ago.

[-] Sepia@mander.xyz 7 points 1 month ago

What an absurdely weird comment. Transnational repression and foreign interference is part of the dictatorial playbook. The leader in this field is China (globally and in Canada, measured by the number of China's United Front organizations in relation to the population size), but also by Iran. The regime in Teheran doesn't care for Iranian citizens and their children, they have been opressing the Iranian population for decades.

[-] grey_maniac@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 month ago

Some nations' intelligence organizations are infamous for false flag activities to help with justification for their country's aggressive activities, and two of those nations are currently involved in massive military attacks on Iran. So, while Iran does have a Russia-like tendency to go after individual enemies in foreign countries, that is not the only plausible explanation. One could argue both alternate suspect nations are fascist with a desire to justify attacks and invasions on other countries.

[-] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

This happening a month ago makes it more plausible but I really don't think i'm wrong to be inherently distrustful of anything said about Iran rn. Our news outlets are known for lying about our "enemies".