(JTA) — The Royal Canadian Mounted Police charged two men in a bomb plot it said was directed by al-Qaida elements based in Iran.
James Malizia, the assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said Monday that the men planned to bomb a train traveling from New York to Toronto on the Canadian side of the border.
“Had this plot been carried out, it would have resulted in innocent people being killed or seriously injured,” Malizia was quoted as saying by CTV.
He identified the two men as Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, adding that neither was a Canadian citizen. He would not say their countries of origin.
Malizia also did not elaborate on how the plot was, as he said, “supported by al-Qaida elements in Iran."
The U.S. government in recent years has accused Iran of harboring terrorists in the group, although in neighboring Iraq, factions allied to the group and to Iran have often been in bloody conflict.
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