A authorities technique to forestall Iranian regime members from resettling in Canada is struggling to indicate outcomes after border safety officers misplaced their fourth deportation case.
Pirnoon got here to Canada on a vacationer visa in 2022 and was working as an Uber driver when the Canada Border Providers Company launched deportation proceedings in opposition to him.
The CBSA alleged the 50-year-old was not allowed in Canada as a result of he was a longtime senior functionary and “political asset” of the Islamic Republic.
However on Aug. 12, Refugee Board member Madona Mokbel rejected the CBSA’s deportation case, ruling that regardless of his place and greater than 20 years within the service of the regime, Pirnoon didn’t qualify as a “senior official.”
Story continues under commercial
“Though his title may suggest on its face that he had a high-level position within the civil service, when examining all of the evidence, the panel finds that he did not exert significant influence on the exercise of government power,” she wrote.
The case is the newest wherein an IRB decide has rebuffed the CBSA’s makes an attempt to oust Iranian officers from Canada below a program the federal government put in place to cease them from utilizing the nation as a secure haven.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s authorities banned senior Iranian officers from getting into Canada in 2022 on the grounds they had been a part of a regime engaged in terrorism and rights abuses.
With the newest loss, just one regime member has been efficiently eliminated within the nearly three years since Ottawa launched this system, based on the CBSA web site, which stated the company was interesting two circumstances within the Federal Courtroom.
0:42Iran is a ‘sponsor of terrorism’, Carney says
Iran is the state sponsor of terrorist teams Hamas, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis. The theocracy additionally targets critics in Canada, amongst them activists, journalists and former MP Irwin Cotler, whom police have warned of an assassination plot.
Story continues under commercial
On Sept. 12, World Affairs Canada warned that Iranian intelligence companies “have increasingly attempted to kill, kidnap, and harass political opponents abroad, following a disturbing and unacceptable pattern of transnational repression.”
Get every day Nationwide information
“Other malign activities include operations to obtain and disclose the personal information of journalists and attacks designed to divide societies and intimidate Jewish communities.”
Because the federal authorities banned senior regime members from Canada on Nov. 14, 2022, border officers have recognized 23 suspects dwelling within the nation and despatched 21 of these circumstances to the IRB for hearings.
Extra on CanadaMore movies
However to this point, solely three hearings have resulted in deportation orders, and solely a single official has been despatched again to Iran, though the CBSA has stated that a number of others left voluntarily.
The figures are as of Sept. 4, 2025.
A civil engineer, Pirnoon served in Iran’s authorities for 22 years, working for the department of the Ministry of Roads and City Growth chargeable for highway security.
Trending Now
Trump orders U.S. troops to Portland, Oregon, authorizes ‘full force’
Reclining in your subsequent WestJet flight might imply having to improve seats
Story continues under commercial
The IRGC is a delegated terrorist group below Canadian legislation.
The report described Pirnoon as a “long-standing political asset. Throughout his career, he represented the Transport Ministry by way of media appearances, multiple meetings with the Supreme Leader’s representatives, as well as recommending policy and reporting to ministers and deputy ministers.”
As a director common, he additionally “interacted with commanders of the IRGC in a mutually advantageous relationship. Strong relationships between the IRGC and government ministries allow the regime to maintain political and social control.”
However Mokbel dominated that “meeting with representatives of the Supreme Leader does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that Mr. Pirnoon influenced government policies and decisions.”
2:08Australia accuses Iran of directing antisemitic assaults
Even when Pirnoon was a top-ranking member of the division wherein he served, she stated, “he does not appear to be clearly placed within the top-half of the public service of Iran.”
Story continues under commercial
At a listening to on Could 8, Pirnoon stated he had no decision-making authority or affect and that working for a authorities didn’t imply supporting it.
Iranian-Canadians have raised considerations that members of the repressive regime they fled have been showing in Canada, and instructed the Hogue fee on international interference they needed higher screening to weed them out.
“Certain attendees talked about the presence of Iranian government officials who were involved in criminal activities and human rights abuses in Canada,” the fee wrote.
Group members additionally instructed the inquiry that “Iranian Canadian community organizations have been infiltrated and taken over by persons acting on behalf of the Iranian regime.”
