"I believe there’s sleeper cells all over the world," Ontario Premier Doug Ford said at a press conference on March 10. But counterterrorism experts say the threat of Iranian sleeper cells is largely overstated. "They don't use sleeper cells in that sense of deep cover agents. "The Iranian regime, we should also remember, is part of a political ideology," said political violence and terrorism researcher Broderick McDonald. Regardless of whether Iranian sleeper cells are active in Canada, the regime’s attempts to target and threaten Iranian Canadians are "absolutely" real, says Juneau.

Source: CBC News March 24, 2026 18:31 UTC