Canada Deports Seyyed Salman Samani; End of Two-Year Legal Battle with Senior Islamic Republic Official

Canada has finally deported Seyyed Salman Samani, former deputy and spokesperson of the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Interior, after more than two years of legal struggle. The deportation came after his latest attempt to halt the enforcement of the expulsion order was rejected, once again bringing to the forefront the debate over the presence of senior Iranian officials in Western countries and governments’ efforts to prevent these nations from becoming safe havens for Iranian regime operatives.

Canada Border Services Agency announced that Seyyed Salman Samani, former deputy and spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Interior, has been deported from Canada. The announcement came hours after Canada’s Federal Court rejected Samani’s latest request to prevent the enforcement of the deportation order, paving the way for the execution of a decision made by Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board more than two years earlier.

In a statement, Canada Border Services Agency declared: “As a matter of public interest, Canada Border Services Agency confirms that Seyyed Salman Samani has been deported from Canada.”

This action concludes a case that began in 2023, during which Canadian immigration authorities argued that Samani, due to his senior position within the structure of the Islamic Republic, falls under regulations prohibiting senior Iranian government officials from entering and residing in Canada.

Samani’s case was first seriously raised in Canada in 2023. After leaving Iran and having entered Canada on a visitor visa, he resided in Toronto.

Canada Border Services Agency referred his file to the Immigration and Refugee Board to examine his residency eligibility. Canadian authorities argued that Samani was a senior official of the Islamic Republic and therefore, under Canada’s new regulations, was not eligible for acceptance in the country.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada issued an expulsion order for Samani in March 2024. This decision came after the board concluded that Samani had held “considerable influence in the exercise of governmental power” within Iran’s governmental structure.

Samani attempted to delay the enforcement of the order by utilizing available legal channels in Canada, and ultimately, in 2026 his case reached Federal Court.

In July 2026, Global News reported that Samani had asked the Federal Court to halt his deportation. He also described the Canadian government’s decision to reject his request for a stay of removal as “unlawful” and “patently unreasonable.”

During the same proceedings, Samani had requested that his name be removed from public court documents and replaced with random letters such as “A.B.” or “X.Y.” He cited the sensitivity and media prominence of the case and the potential consequences as his reasons.

Samani’s final attempt to halt the deportation also ultimately failed. According to legal reports published in Canada, Federal Court Judge Sebastian Grammond rejected Samani’s request to halt enforcement of the deportation order on July 1, 2026—a ruling that opened the way for his deportation.

Global News also reported in its recent coverage that Samani has been deported from Canada following his failure at this final legal stage. His deportation is significant because for a long time, the enforcement of deportation orders against senior Islamic Republic officials from Canada has faced a slow and complicated process.

Global News reporting in 2025 showed that despite the identification of dozens of senior Islamic Republic officials in Canada at that time, only one had actually been returned to Iran.

The primary basis of Samani’s case was not solely an accusation of committing a specific crime in Canada. Canadian immigration authorities focused on his position within the Islamic Republic’s structure and argued that Samani, as one of the senior officials of the Ministry of Interior, held considerable influence within the governmental framework.

A report from Canada Border Services Agency viewed by Global News described Samani’s period of activity in the Islamic Republic as a lengthy path through the governmental structure, stating: “Throughout his professional career, this individual has demonstrated commitment and loyalty to the system.”

According to the same report, Samani held various government positions between 2007 and 2021, and after leaving the government in August 2021, entered Canada on a visitor visa issued in Ankara.

Canadian authorities also emphasized that he held a position close to the apex of power within the Ministry of Interior’s structure. According to Canada Border Services Agency, Samani was only two levels removed from the president within the governmental structure, and therefore his role could not be considered merely an ordinary administrative position.

One of the most important sections of Samani’s case relates to his period as spokesperson for the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Interior. During Hassan Rouhani’s first government in 2016, he was appointed as spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior by decree of Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli. Before that, he had also served as head of the Performance Management, Inspection, and Legal Affairs Center of the Ministry of Interior.

As spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, Samani was one of the government’s official faces defending the ministry’s policies and performance—a ministry whose security and law enforcement structures within various domestic sectors operate as subsidiaries or under its supervision.

Canada Border Services Agency wrote in its report about his role as spokesperson: “Mr. Samani, as a spokesperson, was a channel for conveying government propaganda and was responsible for disseminating information that aligned with the government’s narrative and suppressed dissenting views.”

Canadian authorities also argued that the ministry where Samani worked played a role in dealing with political protests and restricting freedom of expression and assembly rights. During the review of his case, Samani denied accusations of participating in human rights violations.

During his hearing, he stated that he was not aware of orders from Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the then-minister of interior, to use lethal force against protesters during the November 2019 protests.

Samani also stated that he was “deeply affected” by the events of that time and decided to leave the government, although he remained at the Ministry of Interior until August 2021, attributing this to assisting efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

In another hearing, he also said: “I have made every effort to protect human rights in my country.” Samani also claimed to be unaware of arbitrary arrests, torture, and killings by the Iranian government. However, Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board accepted the arguments of government officials about his senior position within the Islamic Republic’s structure and issued an expulsion order.

Samani’s case took shape within a broader policy framework that Canada implemented in November 2022 against senior Islamic Republic officials.

Following Mahsa Amini’s death in Morality Police custody and the outbreak of “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, the Canadian government declared the Iranian government as one engaged in “terrorism and systematic and widespread human rights violations” under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. This decision resulted in a large number of senior Islamic Republic officials and Revolutionary Guards members being barred from entering or residing in Canada.

Global News reported in 2024 that Canada had reviewed dozens of cases involving senior Islamic Republic officials and referred some of them to the Immigration and Refugee Board for examination. In subsequent years, the number of identified individuals increased. Global News reporting in 2025 indicated the identification of 26 alleged senior Islamic Republic officials in Canada facing deportation proceedings. However, the enforcement of deportation orders did not keep pace with their issuance.

For this reason, Samani’s deportation is now considered one of the most important instances of actual implementation of Canada’s policy against senior Islamic Republic officials.

Samani’s case is not merely about one former Islamic Republic official; it raises a fundamental question again about the presence of Iranian government officials in Western countries: Should countries that consider themselves defenders of human rights and civil liberties allow officials who have spent years operating within the Islamic Republic’s structure to live in security and comfort after leaving Iran?

This question is particularly significant for the Iranian diaspora community—a community many of whose members left the Islamic Republic due to political, religious, and social repression.

Global News previously quoted Kaveh Shahrouz, a lawyer and human rights activist, as saying that Canada has long served as a safe haven for individuals associated with the Iranian government. While welcoming Canada’s measures, Shahrouz had called for greater transparency about the identities of these individuals and how they entered Canada.

Now, Samani’s deportation demonstrates that Canada’s policy has not been limited to visa cancellations or preventing entry, and in cases where judicial and immigration bodies determine that an individual falls under the applicable regulations, it can result in actual deportation.

However, numerous other cases remain, and the speed of their adjudication continues to be a matter of debate.

Salman Samani, born in 1980 and a dentistry graduate, passed through various levels of the Islamic Republic’s governmental structure during his years of activity and eventually became one of the recognized figures of the Ministry of Interior. He was a spokesperson for a ministry that held significant responsibility in managing the country’s domestic affairs and simultaneously worked within the political structure close to figures such as Ali Larijani; but after leaving Iran and residing in Toronto, his political past once again became the center of attention.

Now, after more than two years of legal struggle, appeals for review, and attempts to prevent enforcement of the order, the case has reached its conclusion: Salman Samani is no longer in Canada.

His deportation took place even though he himself denied any participation in human rights violations; however, Canadian immigration bodies ultimately determined that his position within the Islamic Republic’s structure and the extent of his influence in the exercise of governmental power were sufficient grounds for issuing a deportation order.

This case also demonstrates that for senior Islamic Republic officials, leaving Iran does not necessarily mean the end of accountability for their political and governmental past—at least in countries that have established specific policies to counter the presence of senior Iranian government officials within their borders.