Canada deports former Iranian deputy interior minister Seyed Salman Samani | World News

Canada has deported former Iranian deputy interior minister Syed Salman Samani after a federal judge rejected his final appeal against removal, according to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).The agency confirmed Samani’s deportation in a statement to Global News, saying he was removed from Canada after being found inadmissible under rules targeting senior officials of Iran’s government.“As a matter of public interest, the CBSA can confirm that it has removed Syed Salman Samani from Canada,” the agency said.Samani arrived in Canada in October 2021 after working as a senior Iranian government official from 2007 to 2021. The CBSA described him as a “career politician” whose roles included serving as deputy interior minister and government spokesperson.Canada introduced measures against senior Iranian regime officials in 2022, declaring the Iranian regime one that had engaged in terrorism and systematic or gross human rights violations. Under the rules, senior officials who served the regime from June 23, 2003, can be deemed inadmissible.Samani is the second Iranian regime official deported from Canada under the 2022 measures.The Immigration and Refugee Board ordered Samani’s removal in 2024, but he challenged the decision in Federal Court.Justice Sébastien Grammond dismissed his appeal this week, finding that Samani’s role gave him significant influence over government decisions.The judge noted that Samani’s ministry oversaw Iranian police forces, which were responsible for widespread killings and other human rights abuses, according to the court decision.As a government spokesperson, Samani had also publicly defended the ministry’s actions during Iran’s 2019 crackdown on protesters, known as Bloody November. The court said he had also threatened politicians who criticised the government’s response.Samani told Canadian authorities that he had left Iran because of the killing of demonstrators and feared being harmed if he was returned.The judge rejected that argument, concluding that the concern did not outweigh Canada’s interest in removing people responsible for systematic human rights violations.Samani had also sought to keep his Federal Court appeal private. The judge rejected his request, although the court agreed to seal case documents because of their sensitive nature.