In The Know

Countering Iran’s interference abroad: MLI

The Macdonald-Laurier Institute describes the Islamic Republic in Iran as waging “a multi-front war of interference, infiltration, and influence to promote itself and weaken its opposition around the world.”

Canada has not been spared the consequence of this campaign. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane in January 2020 that had 63 Canadian citizens onboard, and as many as 138 of the 176 passengers killed had ties to Canada. 

MLI in conjunction with the National Union for Democracy in Iran recently hosted a webinar panel to examine these efforts and discuss what can be done to counter the hostile Iranian regime. 

The experts on the panel included:

  • Ladan Boroumand, PhD, co-founder, Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran
  • Nima Rashedan, researcher on digital activism
  • Kaveh Shahrooz, senior fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Marcus Kolga, director, DisinfoWatch.org, senior fellow, MLI and the CDA Institute
  • Mariam Memarsadeghi, senior fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute 

“Regimes like the Islamic Republic are not only a threat to the people that they rule over and repress, they are a threat to our freedoms here in the free world. I consider it my personal responsibility to counter that repressive regime in support and solidarity with the people who still live there…people like me have a responsibility to alert others to how such regimes are also trying to subvert and harm societies that are already liberal and open,” says Memarsadeghi. 

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