After President Donald Trump warned recently about Iranian "sleeper cells" potentially operating in North America, Canadian opposition lawmakers are accusing their government of allowing operatives linked to Tehran’s regime to remain in the country.
Trump said Wednesday U.S. authorities were monitoring Iranian networks believed to have entered the United States in recent years.
"I have been (briefed), and a lot of people came in through Biden with his stupid open border," Trump said in response to a question from Fox News’ Peter Doocy. "But we know where most of them are. We've got our eye on all of them."
The remarks came amid growing concern among Western security officials about Iranian intelligence activities targeting critics abroad.
In Canada, senior Conservatives say the government has failed to act against Iranian regime officials despite identifying individuals linked to Tehran.
Deputy Conservative leader Melissa Lantsman, immigration shadow minister Michelle Rempel and Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative Québec lieutenant, called upon the Liberal government, in a statement released in Ottawa, to table a plan within one week to take immediate action to stop Iranian regime activities in Canada.
"The Liberals have known for years that there are hundreds of Iranian regime officials in Canada, 239 of whom have had their visas" canceled, the lawmakers said.
They added that government officials told a parliamentary immigration committee recently that only one person has been deported so far, citing legal obstacles, including asylum claims, the absence of direct flights to Iran and privacy protections.
"The presence of agents of the Islamic Republic in Canada is not a new issue," Maryam Shariatmadari told Fox News Digital.
Shariatmadari is one of the faces of the "Girls of Revolution Street" protests against Iran’s mandatory hijab laws who fled Iran after being imprisoned and now lives in exile in Canada.
"For years, the people of Iran have expressed concern about the presence of these individuals and their children in Canada," Shariatmadari added.
"A clear example is Mahmoud Reza Khavari and Marjan Al-Agha, who are known embezzlers," she claimed. disappearance of Iranian dissident Masood Masjoody, a mathematician and critic of Iran’s clerical leadership who vanished earlier this year in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Investigators with Canada’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team say evidence suggests Masjoody was likely the victim of murder, though authorities have not publicly identified suspects, and the investigation remains ongoing, according to visa bans and sanctions imposed by Ottawa.
They are calling on the government to urgently enforce deportation orders against Iranian regime officials, disrupt financial networks linked to Tehran and establish a long-delayed foreign influence registry aimed at exposing agents working on behalf of foreign governments.
"The Liberals can take action against the Iranian regime today, at home within our own borders," they said in the statement. "Too much is at stake. We expect a plan within the week."
"It’s not complicated. Iran’s regime must not find safe haven in Canada," Lantsman said.
The Canadian government directed Fox News Digital to the Canada Border Services Agency, which did not respond to a request for comment.