Iran’s former Deputy Interior Minister is trying to stop deportations from Canada
A former Iranian official caught living in Canada has asked a federal judge to halt his deportation, documents obtained by Global News show.
Seyed Salman Samani, who was the deputy minister of interior until recently in Iran, stated in his appeal to the Federal Court that expelling him would be a violation of his rights.
In an application filed in court in Toronto, Samani said that on June 19, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada denied his request to postpone his removal from Iran.
Calling the decision “illegal” and “absurd,” the 45-year-old Iranian government spokesman asked the court to overturn the decision.
At the same time, he filed a “notice that his name be withheld” where he urged the court to erase his name from all documents related to his complaint.
Due to the “high level” of his case, Samani said he wanted to be identified with “random and meaningless names” such as AB or XY.
The court has not yet issued a decision on the matter.
Samani is one of nearly a dozen suspected senior members of Iran’s repressive regime found in Canada, according to figures released by immigration officials.
The Immigration and Refugee Board ordered his deportation more than two years ago but his court complaint, filed on Canada Day, shows he has not been sent home.
The CBSA declined to comment on the case.
Iranian-Canadians have long complained that the country is at risk of becoming a safe haven for members of the Iranian regime, and have called for better vetting to eradicate the weed.
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The Canadian government barred all “senior” Iranian government officials from entering Canada until 2022, but immigration officials have struggled to expel them.
Of the 34 suspected regime members identified by the Canada Border Services Agency for deportation, only one has been returned to Iran so far.
Samani is a “politician” who held “numerous” government positions in Iran between 2007 and 2021, according to a CBSA report on him.
“The subject demonstrated his dedication and loyalty to the government throughout his career,” CBSA wrote in its report, obtained by Global News.
After leaving the Iranian government in August 2021, Samani flew to Canada using a tourist visa issued in Ankara, Turkey.
In 2024, he became one of the first members of the Iranian regime to be brought before the Refugee Board for deportation proceedings under the ban of senior officials.
At his trial, Samani downplayed his importance to the government and denied involvement in human rights abuses.
But the CBSA said it had “a significant impact on the government’s exercise of power” and that “only two positions have been removed from the President of Iran.”
As the official spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, he “acted as a channel of state propaganda, responsible for disseminating information that fits the government’s narrative and suppressing any dissenting views.”
Samani’s ministry sent agents to attack political protests and was responsible for “violations of the rights of speech and assembly in Iran,” the CBSA said.
The IRB ordered the expulsion of Seyed Salman Samani in 2024.
Immigration and Refugee Board
In his latest court papers, Samani said Canadians should not be allowed to know about his case.
He wrote that he had “an impressive profile as a former member of the Iranian government, who has garnered a lot of media attention.”
If his trial is held in public, he could face “possible reprisals by the Iranian authorities,” he said.
Although Canadian courts are open to the public, the Federal Court allows applicants to request that their cases be made anonymous, meaning they remain anonymous, but this is not always done.
Samani also tried to block the media from his eviction hearing in 2024. Global News fought the move and the Refugee Board decided it would be made public.
Another alleged member of the regime, Abbas Omidi, tried to prevent journalists from being fired, but the IRB ruled in March that such cases were in the public interest.
“For all Canadians, I find that transparency about the nature of the allegations Mr. Omidi is facing is an important safeguard that enables accountability, prevents impunity, and strengthens public confidence in Canada’s legal processes and institutions,” the Board wrote.
“In this context, concealing the identity of Mr. Omidi would have a strong negative/negative effect on public interest in the open court system.”
Canada has had strained relations with Iran since the Islamic country’s 1979 revolution. Ottawa severed diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2012, citing the regime’s nuclear program and support for terrorist groups.
Recently, the federal government’s threat intelligence agency said in an unspecified report that federal intelligence may have been linked to attacks on Canada since the start of the war with Iran.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
