Kin of Oct. 7 victims accuse Iran of genocide in ICC complaint

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) ruled on August 12, 2025 to reject a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) application to deport Afshin Pirnoon.

Documents related to his case, shared with Iran International by Global News, indicate Ottawa's push to deport former Iranian officials faces a high evidentiary bar.

Canada's government barred entry and residency for “senior officials” of the Islamic Republic in 2022 citing accusations Tehran is a state-sponsored terrorism and systematic human rights abuser.

The policy aims also to prevent the risk of so-called transnational repression by Iran or its agents among Canada's sizable Iranian diaspora community. It tasks CBSA with cases of people it deems inadmissible to Canada to the IRB for review.

Pirnoon, worked as a civil engineer and Director-General of the Road Maintenance Office at Iran’s Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization for 22 years.

The IRB found he did not to meet the statutory definition of an Iranian “senior official” or to have “significant influence over the exercise of government power," therefore the legal requirement for his being deemed inadmissible was not met.

Pirnoon came to Canada on a tourist visa in 2022 and was working as an Uber driver when the Canada Border Services Agency launched deportation proceedings.

Three-year track record

Official data indicates that 23 individuals have been identified as suspected senior Iranian officials and 21 cases have been referred to the IRB.

But only three removal orders have been issued, with just one removal carried out to date, though some have departed voluntarily.

Canada has previously referred identified Iranian officials in the country to the IRB to assess their status and determine whether they qualify as “senior officials.”

These include Majid Iranmanesh, a former director-general in the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology, whom the IRB found to be a senior official and ordered removed on February 2, 2024.

Another was Seyed Salman Samani, former deputy minister and spokesperson of Iran’s Interior Ministry, who received a removal order on March 20, 2024.

By contrast, in several other cases—including Pirnoon’s—the IRB has found that an official position alone, attendance of official ceremonies or routine administrative duties do not prove actual influence over policymaking or the exercise of power.

The record suggests that while the government and security agencies stress threats linked to transnational repression and public-safety imperatives, the evidentiary threshold for proving seniority and influence before the IRB remains high.

“The sheer scale of executions in Iran is staggering and represents a grave violation of the right to life,” human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council, including Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, said in a statement.

“With an average of more than nine hangings per day in recent weeks, Iran appears to be conducting executions at an industrial scale that defies all accepted standards of human rights protection.”

At least 1,000 executions have been documented since January. Most were for drug-related offences and murder, followed by security-related charges and rape. Among those executed were at least 58 Afghans, including 57 men and one woman.

“The extensive use of the death penalty for drug-related offences is particularly alarming,” the experts said, adding that 499 people were executed for such crimes this year—far higher than the 24 to 30 executions annually recorded between 2018 and 2020.

They said the 2017 amendment to Iran’s anti-drug law, initially seen as progress for limiting the death penalty, has been effectively reversed, with executions surging again after 2021.

International law restricts capital punishment to the “most serious crimes,” interpreted as intentional murder, they added, stressing that drug offences do not meet that threshold.

Executions disproportionately impact marginalised communities from ethnic minority backgrounds, many of whom face confiscation of homes and farmland.

Most executions are not publicly announced, and trials are often held behind closed doors.

11 executed in 2025 on alleged espionage charges

In a post on X, Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, said 11 individuals have been executed on espionage charges, with nine carried out after Israel's military strikes on Iran on June 13.

The statement came as Iran executed the 11th man for allegedly spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.

"A new espionage bill introduced after the military escalation significantly expands the scope of conduct considered espionage to include activities linked to dissemination of information and media work, such as contact with foreign and diaspora media outlets," the experts said.

“The international community cannot remain silent in the face of such systematic violations of the right to life,” the experts said. “States must take concrete diplomatic action to pressure Iran to halt this execution spree.”

Tarahomi, head of legal affairs at the Anti-Narcotics Headquarters, told state media that speculation about legalizing poppy cultivation was misplaced. “What is under consideration is licensing controlled cultivation of certain poppy species such as Papaver bracteatum -- also known as the Iranian poppy -- for medical use, not opium poppy,” he said.

He explained that Iran had voluntarily halted poppy farming after the 1979 revolution, meeting pharmaceutical needs through seizures and imports. But declining production in Afghanistan has forced Tehran to consider limited licensed cultivation for morphine and related medicines under international conventions.

Tarahomi said licensed crops would be grown only on enclosed land with state purchase and factory processing, leaving no possibility of diversion. By contrast, he warned, illegal growers would face escalating penalties: “The first time a fine, the second time a fine and prison, and from the third time onward, fine, prison and confiscation of agricultural land.”

Officials have previously reported a sharp fall in opium seizures and rising concerns over illegal cultivation in some provinces, with authorities destroying thousands of hectares of illicit fields.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said the move was "a precautionary measure to protect Canadians from the risk of Salmonella infection.”

Importers must now prove shipments do not originate from Iran, or they will be blocked or sent for testing.

“An outbreak investigation is ongoing, led by the Public Health Agency of Canada, with more than 100 laboratory-confirmed Salmonella infections in Canada and numerous food recall notifications linked to pistachio kernels and products originating from Iran,” read a statement by CFIA.

At least 16 people have been hospitalized, though no deaths have been reported. The Public Health Agency of Canada said 75% of cases were among women, warning that children, the elderly and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable.

The CFIA said the restrictions will remain in place until food safety reviews are complete, with penalties ranging from fines to license suspensions or legal action for violations.

Iranian pistachios have faced bans in the past.

Last year, the European Union temporarily halted imports after detecting high levels of aflatoxin, a toxic mold byproduct.

Other Iranian produce, including peppers, kiwis and potatoes, has also been rejected by Russia, India and Pakistan in recent years over contamination concerns.

Choubi-asl, described as a database specialist with access to sensitive national projects, was accused of providing information to Israeli intelligence during meetings in several countries, including India, Armenia and Ireland.

Mizan said Mossad officers trained him, provided secure communications tools and paid him for his cooperation.

“The main goal of Mossad in attracting the defendant’s cooperation was to obtain the database of governmental institutions and create a breach in Iranian data centers,” Mizan reported.

It added that Israeli officers also sought information on electronic equipment imports and engaged him in intelligence-gathering missions.

The judiciary said Choubi-asl met Mossad agents in nine foreign trips, held dozens of meetings, and received financial rewards and training.

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  Iran executed at least 1,000 people so far this year, rights group says

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  Iran executes political prisoner accused of spying for Israel

“The defendant’s deliberate and conscious cooperation with the enemy’s intelligence service was proven,” Mizan quoted court documents as saying.

The court convicted him of “corruption on earth” through collaboration with a foreign intelligence service.

The Supreme Court rejected his appeal and upheld the death sentence, which was carried out on Monday morning, Mizan said.

Iran and Israel have been locked in a long-running shadow war that has escalated this year into direct confrontations, including Israeli airstrikes on Iranian targets in June.

Executions of those accused of spying for Israel have risen in recent months, with at least 10 people put to death on such charges, according to Iranian authorities.