Global News

For 12 years, Roohollah Firooznam ran a company that installed and operated security cameras for Iran’s hardline regime.

The cameras were used to monitor detainees at prisons where torture took place, and to keep watch on political opponents.

Three directors of the company were senior members of the intelligence ministry. A former vice-president of Iran was a shareholder.

Firooznam’s business partner in another venture was a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who spent a decade guarding Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader.

Nonetheless, in 2018 the Canadian embassy in Turkey gave Firooznam a travel visa after he proposed “visiting tourist attractions and sightseeing in Canada.”

Once in Toronto, he moved into an apartment with his wife and daughter, and hired an immigration lawyer, joining a wave of alleged associates of Iran’s regime in Canada.

He did not respond to questions sent to the email address or phone number listed in his refugee claim, and the lawyers handling his cases declined to comment.

But Canadian court records show his company was deemed an “arm of the government” that enabled the “arbitrary detention and torture of detainees.”

An Ontario judge approved his deportation earlier this year on the grounds he was complicit in Iran’s crimes against humanity.

Last year, Canada imposed sweeping sanctions on members of Iran’s regime over their brutal suppression of anti-government protests.

Canada responded by designating Iran’s government a regime engaged in “terrorism and systematic and gross human rights violations.”

The policy effectively banned tens of thousands of senior Iranian officials and Revolutionary Guard members from entering Canada.

A year later, the effort is beginning to report progress, according to figures and records obtained by Global News.

The Canada Border Services Agency said it had begun proceedings against 10 Iranians under the sanctions.

Nine of those cases were being referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board for hearings that could result in deportation.

They include Seyed Salman Samani, 42, who is scheduled for proceedings on Jan. 3. One case was withdrawn after the alleged official left Canada, leaving eight.

Another 141 investigations are still underway, based partly on tips from the public, the immigration enforcement agency said.

Thirty-eight investigations have been closed after the individuals were either cleared or were not in Canada.

The CBSA also said it had screened 17,800 visa applications under the sanctions, and 78 Iranians were barred from entering Canada as a result.

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The CBSA would not comment on Firooznam, citing privacy restrictions, but said it was obliged to remove those linked to crimes against humanity.

“The agency has a top priority to remove individuals involved in criminality, a history of war crimes, crimes against humanity or organized crime and those who are a risk to Canada’s national security,” spokesperson Maria Ladouceur said.