Outrage over former IRGC commander's temporary residence permit
After a temporary resident permit was issued to a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander attempting to enter Canada as an Iranian soccer official, border agents blocked his entry.
Author: Clayton DeMaine
Conservatives in the House of Commons and Senate are demanding answers after Mehdi Taj, a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander and now president of the Iranian Football Federation, was granted a temporary resident permit despite ties to a listed terrorist organization.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman, immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner and Senate Opposition Leader Leo Housakos are calling on the federal government to explain how Taj received the permit, though Housakos praised border services agents for ultimately revoking it.
According to the Canadian Press, and later confirmed by foreign affairs minister Anita Anand, Taj, along with two other “Iranian soccer officials,” saw their permission to enter Canada “revoked” ahead of the FIFA Congress being held in Vancouver this week.
Lantsman demanded answers from the Immigration Minister and federal government questioning how the feds could have issued a temporary resident permit to an IRGC commander in the first place.
“Did the Liberals issue a TRP to Mehdi Taj, an alleged IRGC commander & Iran’s football chief to enter Vancouver for FIFA Congress on April 30, despite being inadmissible?” she said in a post on X. “Did the immigration minister override her officials and give him a special permit?”
Lantsman noted that Canada has listed the IRGC as a terrorist entity yet it appears a “back door” was kept open to allow the man, connected to senior leadership of a terror entity, to secure a permit to get into the country.
“Canadians need answers,” she said.
On Thursday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre echoed Lantman’s concern, demanding to know how Taj and the other officials were granted access to Canada.
“Not a single IRGC regime official should be allowed on Canadian soil,” Poilievre said. “Canadians deserve answers now.”
Housakos, the leader of the official opposition in the senate welcomed the news that Taj was barred from entering Canada but similarly noted that the whole situation raises serious national security concerns.
“Canadians deserve to know if and why a Temporary Resident Permit was issued to an individual with reported ties to the IRGC, and when that authorization was provided,” he said in a statement released on X. “While we commend the vigilance of the frontline border services agents who reportedly denied him entry, the integrity of our national security should not rely upon a discretionary judgment call at the port of entry; the system should have precluded his arrival entirely.”
Housakos said the incident was “emblematic” of a broader long-standing issue under the Liberal government and said that Canada has “developed a reputation” among bad actors as a place where they can operate “with relative impunity.”
“By failing to consistently enforce our own terrorism designations, and by failing to remove an estimated 700 IRGC-affiliated individuals from our country, the government has signalled that Canada is fair game for illicit activity,” he said in the statement. “Until the government demonstrates a serious, rigorous approach to national security and enforcement, incidents like this will continue to undermine the integrity of our laws and the safety of Canadians.”
Others online pointed out that it was a slap in the face to the Iranian diaspora living in Canada as the Islamic regime in Iran slaughtered tens of thousands of its own citizens just four months ago.
I'm surprised they don't give him a government posting and military clearance
Oh why look there. A few government officials, lower ranking of course, can actually do their jobs when some of them finally realize that we are in this for our very lives. Don't you have some white liberal women up there to plead his cause?