Canadian security forces have thwarted an al-Qaeda-backed terrorist plot to derail passenger trains running between New York City and Toronto.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police today arrested two men they say were planning an attack on a VIA Rail train in the hopes of killing passengers and crew members.
Authorities say Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, and Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto, took orders and recieved guidance from al-Qaeda operatives in Iran.
Neither of the men are Canadian citizens, but security officials wouldn't say where they were from or why they were in the country.
Targeted: Authorities say two accused terrorists conducted surveillance on Via Rail trains, Canada's national passenger rail service, with the intention of derailing one of the trains.
A U.S. law enforcement source told Reuters the alleged plot was not linked with last week's Boston Marathon bombings.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said the operations was conducted with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
A source told Reuters that the Amtrak Maple Leaf line, which runs from New York City to Toronto, was targeted. Canadian officials declined to confirm which trains were targeted.
NBC News reports that the suspects may have scouted trains leaving New York City in addition to watching trains in the greater Toronto area.
'Today's arrests demonstrate that terrorism continues to be a real threat to Canada,' Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told reporters in Ottawa.
'Canada will not tolerate terrorist activity and we will not be used as a safe haven for terrorists or those who support terrorist activities.'
Video: Royal Canadian Mounted Police announce terror arrests
Perhaps the biggest surprise to come out of the announcement is that the orders were given by al-Qaeda leaders in Iran.
Iran, a Shi'a-majority country, is a strange ally for the fiercely Sunni Muslim terrorist group.
CNN reported last month that the few surviving members of Osama bin Laden's inner circle currently reside in Iran.
Some of bin Laden's family are said to be under house arrest in Tehran. Others - including top advisers - live in the ski resort city of Chalus on the Caspian Sea.
Canadian authorities, though, were careful to make clear that this was not an instance of state-sponsored terrorism.
The arrests follow not only the Boston bombings but revelations that Canadians took part in an attack by militants on a gas plant in Algeria in January.
It also recalls the arrests in 2006 of a group of more than a dozen Toronto-area men accused of planning to plant bombs at various Canadian targets. Eleven men were eventually convicted of taking part on the plot.
Announcement: Authorities gave few details about the plot, but said the public was never in danger