Canada needs to do more to avoid becoming a safe haven for members of the Iranian regime, Iranian Canadians warned in an unpublished letter to the international interference committee on Thursday.
The document released by the Hogue Commission summarizes public discussions held over the past year with the Iranian diaspora regarding foreign interference and what to do next.
In particular, Iranian Canadians have called for a thorough investigation into the removal of government officials who have served in the Islamic Republic’s government in the past. to arrive in this country.
“Some attendees spoke about the presence of Iranian government officials who are committing terrorist acts and human rights violations in Canada,” the committee wrote.
Community members also told the inquiry that “Canadian Iranian organizations have been infiltrated and taken over by people representing the Iranian government.”
International Affairs to be revealed this week that despite Ottawa’s pledge to deport officials, the Canada Border Services Agency has deported one of the 18 identified so far.
Canada is “known as a safe haven for Islamic State officials and their families,” Tehran-based human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam MacKay said in a statement.
It was “very painful” for Iranians to see officials of the Islamic government in Canada, he said, recalling an event in which “Iranian nuclear officials” were invited to the University of British Columbia.
He also expressed “disappointment after seeing the children of Iranian government officials driving luxury cars in Vancouver,” and said real estate agents work with officials to “park their money” in B.C.
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Border agents need more information and training, and should use the Faces of Crimes online database, which documents abuses by Iranian authorities, he said.
Another witness also told the investigation that the former Iranian police chief was seen in Richmond Hill, Ont., and that the former Iranian minister “went on vacation in Montreal.”
The Iranian regime “wants to have influence in Canada because there are many educated Iranians,” the witness, whose name has not been released, told the inquiry.
Another witness suggested that a unit be set up in Canada’s immigration or foreign affairs departments to “review applications from Iran.”
The Iranian regime is one of several that Canada has accused of targeting the diaspora with intimidation and intimidation.
Recently murderous plots linked to Iran have targeted outspoken critics of the clerical regime, among them Irwin Cotler, a former Liberal MP.
“Iranian dissidents are being threatened in Canada and that their families in Iran have been contacted by Iranian officials,” according to a summary of Javad Soleimani’s story.
Soleimani’s wife was on a passenger plane that was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) in Iran in 2020. 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents died in the shooting.
Three months after the tragedy, Iran’s law enforcement agency contacted him and told him to delete the social media site he disliked, he said.
When he refused, he said he threatened his family while he was still in Iran.
Members of the IRGC “work freely and study here in Canada,” Soleimani said, adding that Iran “has been promoting what it wants to do through mosques and community groups” that should be investigated.
The Canadian government announced in November 2022 that it had suspended the country’s government officials in response to Tehran’s ban on women’s rights protests.
Since then, a dozen and a half suspected high-profile members have so far been identified by immigration investigators, but only three deportation cases have been completed.
Two of them ended up with deportation orders, but only one of them has been removed from Canada. In the third case, the Immigration and Refugee Board refused to accept deportation.
Meanwhile, the deportation hearing is set to begin next month Amin Yosefijaman Iranian who helped the Islamic Republic evade sanctions, then changed his name to Ameen Cohen after his conviction.
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2025-01-17 09:00:08
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