Internet shutdown drives Iranians to leave country for access

In recent weeks, as the country absorbs the shock of conflict, economic strain and uncertainty, the hangings have continued quietly in the background.

Rights groups say at least 21 people have been executed since late February, some linked to the January protests, others accused of ties to opposition groups or espionage.

Iran already had one of the highest execution rates in the world, but the pace has quickened, with trials that remain opaque and outcomes that few expect to change.

And yet, walking through the city, you would not necessarily know it.

Shops are open. Traffic moves. People go to work, or look for it. Life has narrowed to the essentials: finding money, paying rent, getting through the day. Internet access remains so limited that many only hear of these executions days later, if at all.

Mana, a 30-year-old mother of one, says she no longer allows herself to dwell on it. “You can’t think about everything,” she says. “You just have to get through the day.”

Hamed, 19, serving his mandatory military service, puts it more bluntly: “Nothing surprises us anymore after January. It doesn’t even add anger or hatred. It is hard to add to something that already feels complete.”

The latest case that briefly broke through that surface was that of Sasan Azadvar, a 21-year-old karate athlete from Isfahan who had been arrested during the January protests and was executed this week.

The judiciary accused him of “effective cooperation with the enemy,” saying he had damaged police vehicles, incited unrest and encouraged others to take part in riots.

His funeral was held under heavy security presence. But an image emerged of his family curled over his body, pain visible in every still movement.

For a moment, his name travelled through word of mouth, through whatever fragments of connection still function.

Nahid, 56, a clerk at a public institution, says that when news like this spreads, people do feel it. “You get sad, you curse the rulers,” she says. “But then you go back to your life, as helpless as the day before.”

Officials describe executions as a matter of law, of security and deterrence. Many here understand them differently, as a message that requires no elaboration: if you come out into the streets, you may be shot; if you are arrested, you may not return.

What makes this moment harder to ignore is the contrast. The same system shows itself capable of patience and negotiation when dealing with its external adversaries.

After months of war, after airstrikes and the killing of senior commanders, officials are willing to sit across the table from those they describe as enemies, debating terms, exchanging proposals and searching for a settlement.

The logic is not difficult to grasp, as Mana puts it.

“I’m not into politics, but even I can see they pursue a deal with Trump because it can consolidate their power. A conversation at home would do the opposite.”

To engage openly with dissent would mean acknowledging it as something real, something that cannot simply be dismissed or suppressed. It would mean accepting a form of legitimacy that the system has long refused to grant.

And so the contrast persists: negotiation with those who bombed the country, but no dialogue with those who live in it.

The executions continue quietly, steadily, almost routinely, even as the country absorbs war, economic strain and isolation. Each case briefly punctures the surface, then recedes into the background of a society that has learned, out of necessity, to carry on.

Born in 1997 in Urmia, he had been arrested on October 22, 2022 during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.

The judiciary said Abdollahzadeh had been sentenced to death on charges of “corruption on earth” in connection with the killing of Abbas Fatemiyeh, described as a “volunteer force” member in Urmia.

Mizan, the judiciary’s media outlet, said the conviction was based on confessions, witness testimony, images and security reports, adding that the Supreme Court upheld the sentence.

He was executed after previously saying in a message from prison, “From the very first day of my arrest, they extracted confessions from me through torture and threats, all of which were false.”

Rights groups cite coercion concerns

Rights organizations also said the case relied on forced confessions obtained under pressure and lacked fair trial guarantees.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network said Abdollahzadeh was interrogated for 38 days without access to a lawyer or family contact and faced physical and psychological pressure.

The group added he denied the charges and requested mobile location data to challenge his presence at the scene.

Timeline and broader executions

Abdollahzadeh was arrested at his workplace during nationwide protests and later sentenced to death by a revolutionary court in Urmia in September 2024.

Rights groups reported he was moved to solitary confinement days before the execution following a dispute with a prison official.

The execution came after two other men were hanged in the same prison a day earlier on charges of spying for Israel, with rights groups raising concerns over fast-track proceedings and lack of due process.

• 

  Two more men hanged in Iran as authorities ramp up executions

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said this week that at least 21 people have been executed and more than 4,000 arrested on national security charges since the latest conflict in February, warning that rights in Iran continue to face severe restrictions.

"I am appalled that – on top of the already severe impacts of the conflict – the rights of the Iranian people continue to be stripped from them by the authorities, in harsh and brutal ways," Turk said.

Iran International’s reporting was followed by political backlash in Ottawa, international coverage and Mehdi Taj being turned back within hours of landing in Canada.

Speaking to Iran International’s Eye for Iran, Melissa Lantsman, deputy leader of Canada’s Conservative Party, said the case raised serious questions about who approved Mehdi Taj’s entry and why.

“We need to know who did it, when it happened, how it happened, why it happened, and why it’s never going to happen again,” Lantsman said.

Taj, president of Iran’s football federation, had been expected to travel to Vancouver for the FIFA Congress on April 30 at the Vancouver Convention Center.

Iran International previously reported that Taj was issued a Temporary Resident Permit, or TRP, a tool that allows Canadian authorities to admit a person who would otherwise be barred under immigration law.

Canada listed the IRGC as a terrorist entity in 2024, making people linked to the force inadmissible. Taj has longstanding ties to the Islamic Republic’s security establishment and previously served as an intelligence commander in the IRGC in Isfahan.

Lantsman said the permit showed that the issue was not simply a screening failure.

“Somebody actively made this decision to circumvent our own rules,” she said.

“I can’t believe that I work in a place with a minister who would issue a terrorist a permit.”

Taj was able to board a flight to Canada and land in Vancouver. He was sent back within hours, after Iran International’s reporting on the case had already become public.

That sequence has become central to the political fallout in Ottawa. Critics say the government acted only after the case drew public attention, while ministers have declined to discuss details, citing privacy rules.

Lantsman rejected that explanation in the podcast interview.

“We don’t give privacy to terrorists,” she said. “There is no privacy to people who are inadmissible to our country.”

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  Iran football chief with IRGC ties sent back by Canada after arrival

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  Ottawa on defensive after Iran football chief linked to IRGC entered Canada

The issue quickly reached Parliament.

Opposition MPs pressed ministers to explain how a person barred under Canada’s own rules received permission to enter the country.

At Thursday’s meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in Ottawa, Conservative MP Frank Caputo asked Immigration Minister Lena Diab how a person deemed inadmissible had been granted entry.

Caputo said “the rule of law demands transparency” and asked “who gave him a visa,” saying Iran International’s reporting had brought the case to public attention.

Prime Minister Mark Carney declined to comment on Taj’s case, citing privacy laws, but defended the government’s position on the IRGC.

“Members of the [Iranian] Revolutionary Guard rightly have been prohibited from entering this country and they will not enter this country,” he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand suggested the permit may have been granted and later revoked, saying her understanding was that “there is a revocation of the permission” and that “it was unintentional.”

Lantsman said that response only deepened the need for answers.

“If they unintentionally gave him a permit, then we need to know how that happened and why it happened,” she said. “And if the unintentionality of it was about the revocation, that’s even worse.”

The controversy has turned a single immigration decision into a broader political test of Canada’s handling of officials tied to the Islamic Republic.

Although Canada has formally banned the IRGC, Temporary Resident Permits allow authorities to override inadmissibility in certain cases. Taj’s case has raised questions about how such exceptions are approved and what safeguards exist when national security concerns are involved.

The controversy also comes as anger continues over the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on protests in January, with the IRGC at the center of the state response. Rights groups and Iranian activists have described the violence as among the deadliest episodes in modern Iranian history.

At least three Iranian footballers have been killed during the unrest. Ali Karimi, Iran’s former national team captain, has criticized FIFA’s silence and called on the organization to condemn the killing of athletes and speak out against the crackdown.

Lantsman said the opposition has submitted formal questions in Parliament and would continue pressing the government for details.

“This cannot happen,” she said. “We’re going to continue to keep the pressure on.”

The case has also drawn wider attention beyond Canada. The New York Times, USA Today, Agence France-Presse and The Canadian Press have covered the incident, citing Iran International’s reporting.

For Lantsman, the central issue remains who approved the permit and why.

“Somebody in Canada, somebody very high up in the ministry, decides that it’s in public interest of Canada to have this person here,” she said.

The government has yet to publicly identify who authorized the permit, why it was issued, or what measures are being taken to prevent a similar case.

The judiciary’s media center said Yaghoub Karimpour and Nasser Bekrzadeh were hanged in Urmia Central Prison following legal proceedings.

The hangings come as authorities continue to carry out daily executions, taking place against the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire following the conflict that erupted on Feb. 28.

Authorities said Karimpour, a law graduate from Miandoab and a member of the Yarsan religious minority, maintained contact with Mossad and transmitted sensitive information. Rights group Hengaw said Karimpour was arrested in connection with the 12-day war between Iran and Israel last June.

The judiciary said Bekrzadeh, a 26-year-old Kurdish political prisoner, gathered and sent information on key locations, including the Natanz nuclear site, after he was recruited online.

• 

  Iran executes former atomic agency employee over alleged spying for Israel

• 

  Iran refuses to return body of executed teen protester to family

• 

  Iran executes protester over January uprising

Hengaw said Bekrzadeh’s death sentence was upheld in a fast-track process. "His death sentence was confirmed within just 10 days for the third time by Branch 39 of the Supreme Court and communicated to him on April 25," the group said.

Hengaw expressed concern over the transfer of the men and a third prisoner, 27-year-old Kurdish man Mehrab Abdollahzadeh, to execution cells under "vague pretexts." Abdollahzadeh was arrested during the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests and sentenced to death on charges of armed rebellion.

"Hengaw warns of the serious and immediate danger of the execution of these three prisoners. Hengaw emphasizes that Nasser Bekrzadeh, Yaghoub Karimpour, and Mehrab Abdollahzadeh were sentenced to death in completely non-transparent processes, under torture, and without access to a fair trial," the group said.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said this week Iran has executed at least 21 people and arrested more than 4,000 on national security charges since the start of the latest conflict in February.

"I am appalled that — on top of the already severe impacts of the conflict — the rights of the Iranian people continue to be stripped from them by the authorities, in harsh and brutal ways," Turk said.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney declined to discuss Taj’s case, citing privacy laws, but defended the government’s position on the IRGC.

“Members of the [Iranian] Revolutionary Guard rightly have been prohibited from entering this country and they will not enter this country,” he said.

The comments followed reporting by Iran International on how Taj, president of Iran’s football federation and a former intelligence commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, received a Temporary Resident Permit, or TRP. The permit allows Canadian authorities to admit a person who would otherwise be barred under immigration law.

The issue moved quickly to Parliament. At Thursday’s meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security in Ottawa, Conservative MP Frank Caputo pressed Immigration Minister Lena Diab to explain how a person deemed inadmissible had received permission to enter Canada.

Caputo said “the rule of law demands transparency” and asked “who gave him a visa,” saying it took Iran International’s reporting to bring the case to public attention.

• 

  Iran football chief with IRGC ties sent back by Canada after arrival

Who is Mehdi Taj, and what happened?

Taj, the president of Iran’s football federation, has longstanding ties to the Islamic Republic’s security establishment. After the 1979 revolution, he served as an intelligence commander in the IRGC in Isfahan, where units were involved in monitoring internal dissent, including among Kurdish populations.

Canada listed the IRGC as a terrorist entity in 2024, a move that makes people linked to the force inadmissible. Even so, Taj was issued a TRP to attend the FIFA Congress in Vancouver.

Sources who spoke to Iran International said Taj arrived in Canada but was turned back within hours. He and two people accompanying him left at 10:05 p.m. Tuesday after being questioned by authorities.

The immigration ministry commented only after his departure. It declined to name him, citing privacy laws, and said broadly that people linked to the IRGC are not welcome in Canada.

Taj’s brief presence came just before the FIFA Congress at the Vancouver Convention Centre, where members of the Iranian diaspora had planned protests after Iran International’s report.

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Political backlash in Ottawa

The case has put the government under pressure from opposition figures who say Taj’s short stay does not answer the central question of why he was issued a permit at all.

Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized the government publicly, raising concerns about how a person deemed inadmissible was granted entry in the first place.

Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman also pointed to Iran International’s reporting as she pressed the government for answers.

“Good riddance. He didn’t just get on a plane and come here to be sent back. Did the Liberal government issue him a permit? Yes or no?” she said.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner rejected the argument that the system had worked because Taj was ultimately refused entry.

“Come on, this guy was issued a permit. They made a conscious decision,” she told reporters Thursday in Ottawa.

She has described the case as evidence of serious immigration screening failures and called for accountability.

In the Senate, opposition leader Leo Housakos pressed the government in sharper terms.

“Your government can't seem to show the IRGC the door, but it can find a way to roll out the welcome mat… What’s the point of listing the IRGC if you're not serious about throwing him out of our country?” he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand suggested the permit may have been granted and later revoked.

“It’s not my personal lead, but my understanding is that there is a revocation of the permission. It was unintentional,” she said, pointing to a possible breakdown in the process.

International coverage and fallout

The case, first reported by Iran International, has since moved into wider international coverage. The New York Times, USA Today, Agence France-Presse and The Canadian Press have all covered the incident, citing the reporting that brought Taj’s entry to light.

The episode has turned a single immigration decision into a broader test of Canada’s policy toward officials tied to the Islamic Republic.

Canada has formally listed the IRGC as a terrorist entity, barring people linked to it from entering the country, yet discretionary tools like Temporary Resident Permits allow authorities to override that inadmissibility.

For critics, Taj’s case has exposed the space between the government’s public position and the way exceptions can be made in practice.

The controversy also comes amid deep anger over the Islamic Republic’s human rights record, including what has been described as one of the deadliest crackdowns in modern history earlier this year, adding to concern among Iranian-Canadians over how Western governments handle officials tied to Tehran.

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Questions still facing the government

Taj’s brief entry and rapid removal have left the government facing the same basic issue that first put the case in public view: who approved the permit, why it was granted despite Canada’s inadmissibility rules, and what safeguards are in place to prevent a similar decision.

What began with Iran International’s reporting has become a political fight in Ottawa, one that now sits at the crossing point of immigration law, national security and Canada’s approach to the Islamic Republic.