Another senior member of the Iranian regime has been found living in Canada, bringing the number to 16, according to immigration officials.
The Canada Border Services Agency also said it had sent one more of the alleged officials to the Immigration and Refugee Board for a deportation hearing.
Seven deportation hearings are now underway against suspected senior Iranian regime members, in addition to two that have already resulted in deportation orders.
The updated figures are as of Oct. 15.
The Canadian government will not identify the regime members whose cases are still ongoing.
“As a matter of practice, the IRB does not provide information on any cases that are not public,” the Refugee Board said in a statement to Global News.
The cases are the result of a policy adopted in November 2022 that banned high-ranking Iranian government officials from Canada.
The measures were imposed in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, who was detained and killed by Iran’s morality police for showing her hair in public.
Woman holds image of Mahsa Amini, \who died while in police custody in Iran, during protest in Bucharest, Romania, Oct.1, 2022.
Vadim Ghirda/AP
The killing set off demonstrations that were brutally suppressed by the clerical-run regime of Supreme Leader Ali Khomenei.
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Canada responded by designating the Iranian government a regime engaged in “terrorism and systematic and gross human rights violations.”
The policy effectively barred tens of thousands of Iranian officials and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members from Canada.
The Iranian regime and IRGC are leading a so-called “axis of resistance” that has been promoting violence and instability in the Middle East.
Iran is the main sponsor of Hamas, which set off a regional conflict by attacking Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Tehran also back Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis.
The Islamic Republic has also been linked to several recent plots to assassinate dissidents and critics, among them former Liberal MP Irwin Cotler.
Global News revealed that deportation orders were issued this year against two officials, Majid Iranmanesh and Sayed Salman Samani.
But only one of them has actually been deported so far and the remaining cases have proceeded in secrecy, after the IRB banned the press from the hearings.
Majid Iranmanesh, left, and Sayed Salman Samani were ordered deported for being senior members of the Iranian regime.
Meanwhile, an Iranian citizen convicted of helping Tehran evade sanctions appeared Wednesday before the IRB, where he is undergoing deportation proceedings.
Amin Yousefijam, also known as Amen Cohen, was convicted in the U.S. of shipping sensitive materials to Iran in violation of sanctions.
The CBSA is now trying to deport him, alleging he undermined Canada’s efforts to contain the threat posed by the Iranian regime.
Although his deportation case was supposed to begin on Oct. 28, it was delayed when his lawyers quit, citing a “breakdown” in the solicitor-client relationship.
At an appearance this week, the IRB delayed the hearing again until Feb. 25, in order to give Yousefijam’s new lawyer time to prepare.
Arash (left) and Amin Yousefijam, aka Aurash and Ameen Cohen.
Yousefijam contributed to “an increased security threat towards Canada in regards to terrorism and attack by nuclear weapons,” CBSA wrote in its report.
His brother Arash Yousefijam was also convicted. The brothers used Ontario’s name change system to adopt new identities as Ameen and Dr. Arash Cohen.
The Ontario government said it was looking into reforming its policies to prevent serious criminals from hiding their past identities.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
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