Dissident Professor Who Called for Regime Overthrow and Warned of Iranian Assassination Networks in Vancouver Now Missing in Targeted Attack

VANCOUVER – A mathematician who publicly called for the overthrow of the Iranian regime and shared reporting about Iranian intelligence assassination networks operating through drug traffickers in the Vancouver area in his social media posts has disappeared from Burnaby, B.C., under circumstances homicide investigators are treating as a potential targeted attack.

Masood Masjoody, 45, was last seen on February 2 when concerned neighbors reported his disappearance to Burnaby RCMP. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has taken over the case, with investigators describing the disappearance as “unusual” and ruling out local extortion schemes.

IHIT spokesperson Sgt. Freda Fong told Iran International, a London-based Persian news outlet, that the search “still continues” and that evidence points to a targeted attack, though she declined to publicly confirm any specific foreign threat link for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.

Masjoody’s public social media activity reveals he was acutely aware of the threats facing Iranian dissidents in Canada.

In January 2024, he shared a link to The Bureau’s reporting that US and UK authorities had accused Iranian intelligence services of using British Columbia narcotics trafficking networks in assassination plots against Iranian dissidents. He added his own commentary in Persian, calling for “practical proposals on the path to overthrow” and advocating for investigations into “the regime’s agents and IRGC in Canada” and their “international criminality.”

The post demonstrates that Masjoody was not only publicly calling for regime change but was specifically aware that American law enforcement and Canadian experts have assessed that Iranian intelligence had established operational capabilities in the Greater Vancouver area where he lived—the same region where he has now disappeared under suspicious circumstances. His post also called for private investigations into Iranian agents in Canada, arguing that Ottawa lacked the capacity or will to probe Iranian threat networks.

The most recent activity on Masjoody’s social media account was a repost on the afternoon of February 2, the day he disappeared.

The case has drawn significant attention within the Iranian-Canadian community. Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay, a prominent Iranian-Canadian human rights activist and wife of former Minister of Justice and Attorney General Peter MacKay, posted on X on February 5 expressing deep concern about Masjoody's disappearance.

“Deeply troubling to hear that opposition activist to the regime of the Islamic Republic, Masood Masjoody, is missing,” MacKay wrote. “He is a 45-year-old professor from Burnaby, Canada, and had been under threat for months. He was trying to expose IRGC affiliates in Canada.”

Masjoody’s disappearance comes as the Iranian regime faces unprecedented domestic unrest. Human rights organizations have documented thousands killed in the regime’s crackdown on protests that erupted in late December and intensified in January, with authorities imposing a nationwide internet shutdown to conceal the scale of the violence.

The Masjoody case unfolds amid documented Iranian transnational repression activities in Canada and specifically in British Columbia, and raises the possibility that the regime has extended its efforts to suppress a domestic revolt into the diaspora.

Nazanin MacKay noted that while she did not know Masjoody personally, “he has publicly stood up against those who attempted to carry out character assassination and defame me online.” Online discussions among activists suggest Masjoody had sought protective measures from authorities amid alleged ongoing threats, though official sources have not confirmed those reports.

Masjoody, who obtained his doctorate in mathematics from Simon Fraser University in 2019 and worked as a sessional instructor until 2020, had publicly warned Canadian authorities about what he characterized as Iranian regime infiltration of engineering programs at the university. In an April 2021 open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Masjoody detailed what he described as “alarming infiltration in Canadian public bodies of the Islamist regime in Iran.”

Citing warnings from then-CSIS Director David Vigneault about hostile foreign governments targeting academic institutions for technology transfer, Masjoody raised concerns about the use of Canadian university resources in ways he believed could benefit the Iranian regime.

These allegations formed the basis of a lawsuit Masjoody filed against SFU and a former colleague. However, in May 2025, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Bruce Butler ruled that Masjoody had “wasted court resources” and engaged in “a pattern of pursuing meritless claims which have already been adjudicated, particularly claims involving unfounded allegations of bias and conspiracy against judges, lawyers and the registrar.” Justice Butler issued an order prohibiting Masjoody from continuing certain appeals.

Despite the court’s findings, Masjoody remained vocally opposed to the Iranian regime. During a 2023 hunger strike, he posted: “I am determined to stand and fight until the end for the aspirations of millions of freedom-loving Iranians whether exiled — like myself — or imprisoned in the homeland under the rule of the Islamic regime.”

In January 2024, The Bureau reported that US and UK authorities had accused Iranian intelligence services of collaborating with British Columbia-based organized crime networks in plots to assassinate Iranian dissidents. The investigation revealed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had established operational relationships with criminal networks in the Vancouver area to carry out violence against regime critics.

CSIS Director Dan Rogers recently warned that his agency “reprioritized our operations” this past year to counter Iranian intelligence proxies involved in plots requiring “disrupting potentially lethal threats” against people in Canada. “We’ve publicly discussed transnational repression by the People’s Republic of China, India, and others,” Rogers said, noting that such operations disproportionately target journalists, activists, dissidents, and community leaders.

In November 2024, former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler revealed he was the target of an alleged Iranian assassination plot on Canadian soil, with RCMP warning him of an “imminent assassination attempt within the next 48 hours.” Two suspects were reportedly apprehended.

IHIT continues to appeal for information from anyone who may have knowledge of Masjoody’s whereabouts or recent contacts. The public is urged to call IHIT at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or email ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.