Deportation hearing begins for alleged senior Iranian regime official
Global News
Abbas Omidi is one of 32 'senior officials' of Iran’s regime located in Canada.
A deportation hearing got underway in Toronto on Monday for an alleged senior member of Iran’s repressive regime who has been living in Canada.
Abbas Omidi served in a high-ranking government position in Iran before arriving in Canada in 2022, according to allegations made at the hearing.
The Canada Border Services Agency said he spent 27 years working for the Iranian public service, and was a deputy in the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade.
As a “senior official” in the Iranian government, the 55-year-old is not allowed to remain in Canada, the immigration enforcement agency said.
The two-day hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board will decide whether Omidi will receive a deportation order.
Omidi is one of 32 suspected past and present high-level officials of the Iranian government identified during an immigration crackdown.
The CBSA alleges they are not permitted to remain in the country because of a 2022 policy that bars them due to their government’s abuses.
Monday’s hearing began with questions about his employment history.
The U.S. Central Command said the crash followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” and that the other plane landed safely.
Water treatment centres in the Persian Gulf region are under threat amid the Iran war, with desalination plants in areas like Bahrain taking damage from strikes.
John Gradek said that the price of jet fuel is up about 30 per cent and the cost of fuel represents about 30 per cent of an airline's operating costs.
Iran's unrelenting attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf pushed oil back above $100 a barrel on Thursday.
Concerns were raised in a document sent to British Prime Minster Keir Starmer in December 2024 when he was considering appointing Peter Mandelson.
Canada and a group of dozens of other countries have agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves as the Iran war threatens the global supply.
Iran's military command said on Wednesday the world should be prepared for oil to hit US$200 a barrel, as three more ships came under attack in the blockaded Gulf.
Iran launched new attacks against Israel and Gulf Arab countries, while Israel carried out airstrikes on Iran and Lebanon, where it is battling Hezbollah militants.
The department said it is also seeing fewer Canadians take government-assisted travel options as flights gradually resume in certain parts of the region.
The war has sent oil prices surging, upending global travel, pushing airline tickets on some routes sky-high, and sparking fears of a deep travel slump.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the United States would carry out the most intense day of strikes against Iran on Tuesday.
Trump said the war would continue until Iran is 'totally and decisively defeated' and predicted it would be over 'very soon,' but denied suggestions it could end this week.
G7 finance ministers said they were monitoring the situation and were prepared to implement 'necessary measures,' but stopped short of committing to release emergency reserves.