Iranian officials are banned from Canada — but this former regime member landed in April

Mahdi Nasiri let the world know he was on his way to Canada in April.

The former high-profile Iranian official posted a series of farewell photos — including a goodbye hug — on Instagram for his more than 250,000 followers and anyone else to see.

He has been in Canada ever since. 

But now, according to a source, his name has been reported to the RCMP. And Canadian security authorities are facing calls from the public to investigate why he was allowed to enter in the first place — and if he should be kicked out.

"To see that he can easily come to Canada and in fact celebrate it, and post pictures from the airport saying 'I've arrived,' it sets off alarm bells among a lot of Iranians," said lawyer and human rights activist Kaveh Shahrooz.

Nasiri has been described as an important hardliner in Iran during the 2000s. He didn't deny his past roles to CBC News, but also said he's been critical of Iran's regime for the past six years and now supports the country's liberal opposition leader. 

The Trudeau government promised in 2022 to crack down on current and former senior Iranian regime officials living in Canada after mounting public pressure and safety concerns. Iranian Canadians had reported harassment, intimidation and surveillance they believed was tied to Tehran. Canada's spy agency verified death threats from Iran were real. And an explosive U.S. indictment revealed an Iranian plot to kidnap Canadians. 

In response, the government designated the leadership of Iran's government, security and intelligence agencies as inadmissible to Canada in 2022 for allegedly engaging in terrorism and systemic and gross human rights violations. That designation expanded last year to ban anyone from Canada who served as a senior official with Iran's government anytime since June 2003.

But Nasiri is the latest case raising questions about how effective Canada's crackdown is. So far, only one senior Iranian official has been removed from the country. 

Nasiri is well known for his role as managing director of the most conservative Iranian newspaper, Kayhan, in the 1990s — funded by Iran's supreme leader. 

"He was very prominent in state-owned media, which is often the platform that the regime itself used to go after dissidents, to create charges against people that are outspoken," said Shahrooz, who is critical of the regime.

Nasiri was then appointed to a key role as political deputy of the policymaking council of Friday imams across the country from 2001 to 2005. 

"The Friday prayers are the main platform that Iran delivers its talking points and propaganda to supporters, and is a job entrusted to people closely tied to the regime," Shahrooz said. 

"The fact that he had that role indicates to me that he was part and parcel of this regime."