OTTAWA, Ont. – The Foreign Affairs Department paid almost two-million dollars to an international security firm for a sweeping intelligence study of potential threats to Canada’s foreign embassies.
   
The assessment would have undoubtedly been information used in the Harper government’s decision to close its embassy in Tehran last week.
   
The contract was awarded earlier this year to Control Risks Group, a company that boasts 34 offices across the world.
   
Neither the company, nor the Foreign Affairs Department would comment specifically on the nature of the work done.
   
The government has said repeatedly that the safety of its diplomats was the primary reason for pulling out of the Iranian capital.
   
An attack this past week on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, claimed the life of its ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three American embassy co-workers.