Canada's spy agency investigating Iranian death threats

OTTAWA -

Canada's spy agency is investigating reports from people who are living in the country who have received "credible" death threats from Iran, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said in a statement.

The threats are "designed to silence those who speak out publicly" against Iran, the statement said.

CSIS is collecting information from people who experienced harassment and intimidation linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the statement said.

"CSIS is actively investigating several threats to life emanating from the Islamic Republic of Iran based on credible intelligence."

The CSIS statement was first reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) on Friday.

The agency is working closely with Iranian-Canadian communities which have been "disproportionately" targeted, the statement said.

Iran's intelligence services have made at least 10 attempts to kidnap or even kill British nationals or people based in the United Kingdom regarded by Tehran as a threat, the head of Britain's domestic spy agency said on Wednesday.

Canada has a series of sanctions against Iran over alleged human rights abuses, including the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who died in September while in custody of Iran's morality police.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Josie Kao)