Slain Iran critic Masjoody said months ago that murder suspects wanted to poison him

VANCOUVER — An Iranian dissident found dead in British Columbia this month had accused the two people now charged with murdering him of being aligned with Iran’s government and trying to obtain poison to kill him last year.

In an affidavit obtained by The Canadian Press, Masood Masjoody said he was warned by a member of a group that involved suspects Arezou Soltani and Mehdi Ahmadzadeh Razavi that they “sought a substance with which to murder me.”

Sgt. Freda Fong, with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said over the weekend that investigators believe the killing of Masjoody, whose cause of death has not been announced, was “targeted,” and that the Burnaby man had “ongoing disputes” with the suspects.

Court records show Masjoody has been involved in more than half a dozen lawsuits in B.C. dating back to 2014.

His lawsuits in recent years name many parties as defendants, including the suspects in his murder and the exiled former crown prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, alleging defamation and harassment.

While Masjoody opposed Iran’s theocratic dictatorship, he was also critical of some pro-royalist factions of the dissident movement.

In B.C. Supreme Court civil filings, Masjoody had accused Soltani of “alignment” with the Iranian regime, while other legal documents referring to his accusations say Razavi had “loyalty” to Iran’s intelligence services.

The claims were denied by both suspects in subsequent replies to the legal action and the claims have not been tested in court.

Soltani and Razavi made a brief appearance by video in B.C. provincial court on Monday, where they only spoke to confirm their identities.

A judge imposed a publication ban on evidence emerging at their bail hearing and set March 25 for their next appearance.

In his Nov. 12 affidavit, Masjoody identified a B.C. naturopath as the source of the information about the “substance” supposedly intended to murder him.

He said the woman expressed concern to Masjoody that because he had named her in a court filing, Soltani and Razavi “would also make an attempt to murder (her) and hurt her family.”

Soltani said in an April 2025 affidavit that she got to know Masjoody through the Iranian protest movement and had tried to help him with housing and other support.

She said she learned that after Masjoody, a mathematician, lost his university job, he “was nearly homeless, and was planning to go on a hunger strike in front of the courthouse.”

Soltani’s affidavit said she and others helped Masjoody financially and helped arrange housing for him, “to help him regain stability.”

“At that time, we had no prior knowledge of any legal disputes or allegations against Mr. Masjoody. However, as time went on, we became aware of multiple serious conflicts he had with female co-workers and other women,” her affidavit said.

She said she and others decided to “distance ourselves” from Masjoody when they found out.

“As a single mother raising two children for over ten years, while working full-time and studying, I had no desire to be involved in any situation that could bring unnecessary conflict into my life,” Soltani said in her affidavit, which also contains allegations untested in court.

Soltani said she believed this was why Masjoody was angry and frustrated with her, turning up at her home and workplace to serve various legal documents and posting videos of the encounters on social media.

Court filings show Masjoody had obtained orders to garnish Soltani’s wages, which involved looping in her employer.

Razavi said in response to one of the civil actions that Masjoody had filed the lawsuit as part of an improper “harassment campaign.”

“It is clear from the numerous pleadings and applications filed by the plaintiff, as well as the plaintiff’s online comments, that he is concerned with ridding the world of individuals he believes are adjacent to the Islamic Republic of Iran and is using this court to that end,” Razavi said in an application filed last May.

Razavi said in the application that Masjoody had likely made accusations toward him and named his workplace “for the purposes of harassing and embarrassing” him.

Razavi’s lawyer in the lawsuit, Nojan Kamoosi, said he had no comment when reached by The Canadian Press on Monday.

Homicide investigators have said Masjoody was last seen in February, and his remains were found in Mission, B.C., on March 6.

U.S.-based Pahlavi has been frequently discussed as a potential future leader of Iran, particularly since the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a military offensive launched by the United States and Israel.

Pahlavi said in an affidavit filed in November that he did not know Masjoody, that he denied all of Masjoody’s allegations against him, and that “Mehdi Ahmadzadeh” was not affiliated with him or acting as his agent.

Masjoody was declared a “vexatious litigant” by the B.C. Court of Appeal last year.

Justice Bruce Butler found Masjoody had “been warned by numerous judges since 2022 that some of his conduct in litigation is unacceptable and must be modified going forward.”

“Despite this, Dr. Masjoody has continued to make the same allegations of bias and conspiracy against numerous members of the judiciary as well as opposing counsel — allegations which are unsupported by the evidence and which force courts and parties to expend valuable time and resources to address,” Justice Butler wrote.

The judge found Masjoody had “made unfounded allegations of bias and conspiracy against judges, and of perjury and contempt against lawyers without supporting evidence.”

“I recognize that vexatious litigant orders are to be made sparingly and only where it is in the interests of justice to restrict a litigant’s access to the courts,” Justice Butler wrote. “Nevertheless, I conclude a vexatious litigant order against Dr. Masjoody is necessary to prevent any further abuse of this court’s process.”

Fong referred to Masjoody’s voluminous litigation and other disputes on Saturday.

“It’s on the public record that there are ongoing civil disputes as well as exchanges on social media platforms involving the victim as well as the accused,” Fong said. “Whether or not that forms a motive of the homicide, it is still under investigation.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2026.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press