How Iranian Canadians are trying to stop regime affiliates fleeing to comfort in Canada
CBC
Some Iranian Canadians say they are taking efforts into their own hands to investigate and track down Iranian regime members and affiliates who are now in Canada — saying the Canadian government is not doing enough.
One group even made the extraordinary move of publicly shaming a recent arrival at Toronto's Pearson airport, who they claimed was a regime affiliate, asking how she got a visa.
The issue has ramped up since protests erupted across Iran last fall after the in-custody death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating Iran's strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf.
As demonstrations have continued against the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran within the country and around the world, dissidents fear supporters of the regime may be leaving for safer harbours — like Canada.
"They're terrorists," said Mojdeh Shahriari, a human rights lawyer in Vancouver. "Do you want these people to roam around in Canada unchecked? Are you OK with that? I don't think so."
Shahriari is a member of an organization called StopIRGC, a group of volunteers who are dedicating time and money to follow leads on regime members and affiliates here in Canada.
She says they have received more than 200 reports and are looking into the strongest leads, sometimes with the help of a private investigator. Once a solid file is built, they will turn over the evidence to authorities to take further action.
"If Canada was doing what it's supposed to do to keep Canada safe, there would be no need for anything that we are doing," she said.
This is not the first time concerned citizens have outed affiliates of the Iranian regime in Canada.
In 2021, a high-profile former Tehran police chief was spotted running on a treadmill in Richmond Hill, Ont. Morteza Talaei was in charge of Tehran's police in 2003 when Iranian Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was beaten to death in custody.
An Iranian dissident spotted and filmed him; those images went viral. Many in the community wanted to know how it was possible he had been allowed to enter Canada.
At the time, Talaei wasn't on any sanctions list.
Last fall, CBC News and other news outlets sent inquiries to the government and to CSIS about Talaei, and soon after that he was added to the sanctions list, which should prevent him from entering the country again.
At the time, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) would not comment on his case, citing privacy legislation.