As Canada begins a crackdown on Iranian officials living in the country, a top science bureaucrat appeared before an immigration panel on Thursday.
Majid Iranmanesh is one of nine alleged senior members of the Iranian regime who have turned up in Canada and face possible deportation.
In Iran, Iranmanesh was a director general at the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology, according to the Iranian government’s website.
He said he came to Canada on May 29, 2023, hoping to conduct research at the University of Victoria for one year.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada would not explain how he was able to obtain a visa to enter Canada.
On Nov. 29, 2023, the Canada Border Services Agency referred his case to the Immigration and Refugee Board for hearings.
The CBSA alleged he is inadmissible to Canada because he is a senior official of the Iranian regime.
If the Refugee Board concurs, a deportation order will be issued under sanctions adopted last year.
Iranmanesh, 54, did not respond to questions sent to his Facebook or email accounts.
The hearing ended Thursday without a decision, but Iranmanesh said he wanted to leave Canada by next week.
“I would like to return to my country,” he said.
In his testimony, he acknowledged working for the Iranian government since 2017.
He said he was director general of administration of information technology at the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology until 2020. Since then he has been a consultant working on contract, he said.
He said he had wasted eight months waiting for his hearing, and asked why he had not simply been told upon arriving in Canada that he was inadmissible.
He asked the IRB to allow him to leave without a deportation order, which he said would interfere with his research in different countries.
A mathematician, Iranmanesh said he was a university professor who had offered his research on earthquakes, floors and natural disasters to 117 nations.
“I have been active in positions only for the benefit of humankind,” he said. “This situation prevented me from continuing my research.”
A United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report said the Centre for Innovation and Technology Cooperation (CITC) operated under the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology.
The CITC has been sanctioned by the United States and United Kingdom for supporting Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
“The Center for Innovation and Technology Cooperation (CITC) is in a position to support a range of Iran’s weapons of mass destruction and military procurement objectives,” according to the U.S. Treasury.
“It has been assessed that CITC facilitates procurement and technology transfer from the science community to the military services.”
But Canadian immigration officials did not allege at the hearing that Iranmanesh had any role in weapons.
Earlier this month, Iran’s former deputy interior minister, Seyed Salman Samani, also appeared before the Refugee Board in Toronto.
His case was scheduled to begin on Feb. 8.
Both Iranmanesh and Samani are being deported under sanctions adopted in November 2022 that banned senior members of the Iranian regime from Canada.
The sanctions were imposed after Iran’s morality police detained and killed Mahsa Amini for showing her hair in public.
Canada responded by designating Iran’s government a regime engaged in “terrorism and systematic and gross human rights violations.”
The policy effectively barred tens of thousands of Iranian officials and IRGC members from Canada.
About 140 similar cases are still under investigation, partly as a result of tips from the public, the CBSA said.
“To date, 10 individuals have been reported inadmissible by the CBSA for being a senior official in the Iranian regime,” the agency added.
Three of the cases have been referred to the IRB for hearings, but one of the individuals left the country before the proceedings began.
“So far, 40 investigations were closed by the CBSA for individuals who were either out of the country or deemed not inadmissible to Canada.”
In addition, 78 Iranians “were denied access to Canada” before they arrived as a result of screening, the CBSA said.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca