Iranian Ex-Official Facing Canada Deportation Says He Knew Nothing About Abuses

A former Iranian deputy Interior minister facing deportation from Canada has claimed that he was unaware his boss had ordered police to use lethal force against protesters in 2019.

Seyed Salman Samani told a deportation hearing on February 8 that he knew nothing about the directive issued by then-Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Global News reported.

Samani served as deputy Interior minister in 2016-21. 

Iranian police and security forces were mobilized to suppress demonstrations that erupted in November 2019 after an abrupt fuel price rise. More than 300 people lost their lives during the turmoil.

At his hearing, Samani told Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) that he was so “troubled” by the events at the time that he decided to leave the government.

He explained that he remained on the job until August 2021 because he wanted to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ex-official insisted he had never been involved in human rights abuses, and was not aware that the Islamic Republic was engaged in arbitrary arrests, torture and killings.

“I have been doing my best in order to protect human rights in my country,” he said.

While acknowledging he had been deputy minister and the spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, he claimed he “was only responsible for distributing the information.”

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is trying to deport Samani under sanctions introduced in 2022 that banned senior Islamic Republic officials from Canada. 

The sanctions were imposed over the bloody crackdown on anti-establishment protests that rocked Iran in 2022-23. 

Earlier this month, the IRB ordered the deportation of another former Iranian official, Majid Iranmanesh, who has held prominent positions in the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and the National Iranian Youth Organization.