Scholar tracks uptick in Iran threats on diaspora, others question deporting official

OTTAWA — A scholar researching transnational repression says he’s seeing an uptick in Iran’s regime threatening diaspora in Canada, as experts suggest Ottawa get tougher on countries targeting communities in Canada.

“We can expect, in 2026, transnational repression against Iranian-Canadians to get significantly worse,” University of Ottawa professor Thomas Juneau told the House subcommittee on international human rights on Monday.

Juneau specializes in the Persian Gulf and warned when the United States first started the war on Iran, that Tehran tends to target dissidents abroad when it feels threatened. Reported targeting incidents include surveillance and death threats, and particularly threats and punishment toward relatives still living in Iran.

He is part of an ongoing research project interviewing various communities about transnational repression, and says Iranian-Canadians are already reporting an uptick in threats.

“Past patterns tell us that when the Islamic Republic of Iran feels especially vulnerable because of geopolitical pressure and/or domestic political pressure — and second variable, when there is enhanced diaspora mobilization — it speeds up its already high baseline of transnational repression,” Juneau testified.

He said this pattern has been tracked after Iran’s destruction of Flight PS752 in 2020 which killed 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents, as well as the 2022 protests that followed the death of a young woman police arrested, allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly.

“The prediction that a number of us are making now is that we are basically seeing the confluence of these two variables now, again, because of geopolitical pressure — the war — and because of the domestic political pressure — the protests of just a few months ago,” Juneau testified.

“Anecdotally, I am already seeing that prediction becoming true, even if we don’t have enough data points to really make a rigorous assessment at this point,” he said.

The subcommittee is undertaking a study of Canada’s approach to transnational repression. The Carney government has made what it calls TNR a priority in its engagement with the G7 to co-ordinate with allies, but diaspora groups in Canada say police still fail to understand the threats people are reporting.

MPs also heard criticism about Canada’s decision to issue a visa to a regime official who is part of Iran’s soccer federation and then deport the official back to Tehran. One academic argued Ottawa should have instead launched a prosecution.

Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj is a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official who was initially granted a temporary resident visa that allowed him to enter Canada. But that visa was cancelled while Taj was en route. When he landed, he was turned away and sent back to Tehran.

Conservative members of Parliament have criticized Ottawa for issuing a visa after having listed the IRGC as a terrorist entity and banning entry for the group’s senior leaders.

The government has largely insisted it cannot discuss the case because of privacy laws, though multiple ministers have pointed out that Taj was not admitted to Canada, after initially getting a visa.

Mark Kersten, a University of the Fraser Valley professor specializing in international law, told the committee Canada should have prosecuted the official for human rights breaches.

“Trying to tackle TNR in Canada by sending perpetrators back to a regime engaged in the oppression of civilians is potentially reckless and dangerous. Sending agents back risks strengthening the Iranian regime and its repressive capabilities,” Kersten told MPs.

He argued that arresting officials from repressive regimes when they visit Canada and launching prosecutions under Canadian law would disincentivize countries from sending such officials abroad.

Public Safety Canada referred a request for comment to the Immigration Department, when asked why Ottawa chose to deport Taj instead of launching a prosecution.

In a statement, the Immigration Department said no IRGC official, either current or former, had been admitted to Canada to attend the FIFA Congress last week in Vancouver.

“A determination of inadmissibility can be made at any stage in the travel process to protect public safety,” a department spokesperson wrote in an email.

“The government has been clear and consistent: IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country. This ban has been enforced. We have taken strong action to hold the IRGC to account and will continue to do so.”

Last month, before the Taj incident, a senior Public Safety executive said federal officials ramped up their monitoring of Tehran’s threats of the diaspora. Sébastien Aubertin-Giguère told a conference that Ottawa was “keeping a very close eye on their actions” at Canada’s borders and abroad.

Kersten further suggested Canada should seize assets held by repressive states and use those funds to compensate dissidents targeted by foreign regimes.

The committee also heard various perspectives on repression from a slew of countries, including alleged incidents and proposed remedies involving Iran, China and India.

University of Ottawa professor John Packer said Canada lacks a co-ordinated response to repression, with no official having a central role to steer federal and provincial agencies.

“We’re behind the curve and at demonstrable peril,” he said.

Experts suggested Canada name perpetrators of transnational repression publicly when incidents occur, and not just sanction officials but launch cases at the International Criminal Court.

The committee heard concerns that Canadian companies operating abroad are enabling repression, such as blocking Hong Kong nationals from accessing their pension funds when Beijing orders a freeze on those savings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2026.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press