G7 countries condemn Iranian transnational repression, attacks on rivals

Members of the G7 condemned recent actions by Iran Friday, saying the country has been engaging in transnational repression and attacks on political opponents in other countries.

In a statement issued by the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism, tasked with countering foreign interference, the seven countries including Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom, condemned "transnational repression and other malign activities by Iran" reported by several countries.

"According to those statements, Iranian intelligence services have increasingly attempted to kill, kidnap and harass political opponents abroad, following a disturbing and unacceptable pattern of transnational repression, and clearly undermining state sovereignty," the authors wrote.

"Other malign activities include operations to obtain and disclose the personal information of journalists and attacks designed to divide societies and intimidate Jewish communities."

In a statement, Global Affairs Canada said its Rapid Response Mechanism group detected a "hack and leak" operation from Iran-linked hacker group Handala Hack Team directed at five Iranian international journalists, including one located in Canada. It believes the operation, in which hacked materials ranging from photos of government IDs to "intimate content" circulated online, began on July 8 and was subsequently amplified on a variety of social media and Iranian news websites.

Global Affairs said the leaked information appears to focus on a Canadian employee of the news outlet Iran International. It said a number of sources including the Atlantic Council have linked Handala to Iran's intelligence services.

In July, Australia and New Zealand issued statements condemning attacks by Iran. Australia said Iran was behind attacks against the Jewish community and promptly expelled the Iranian ambassador to Australia and three other diplomats. New Zealand responded to Australia's statement by condemning Iran's actions.

Iran was one of the countries singled out earlier this year by Canada's public inquiry into foreign interference. In her final report, Justice Marie-Josée Hogue found that Iran was engaging in transnational repression in Canada — particularly among Canadian residents of Iranian origin.

"The government assesses Iran as a considerable transnational threat because it is likely monitoring, influencing, collecting information on, harassing and intimidating the Iranian diaspora community to prevent criticism of Iran," Hogue wrote.

Iran's Foreign Ministry has not yet responded to a request for comment on the G7 statement from CBC News.