Businessman With Links To Iran Intelligence Faces Deportation From Canada

An Iranian businessman living in Canada is facing deportation for alleged complicity in crimes against humanity after supplying surveillance cameras to the Tehran regime.

Roohollah Firooznam ran a business for 12 years which provided the equipment to Iran's intelligence services, including the IRGC.

The cameras were used to monitor detainees in prisons where torture was used, and to watch political opponents, the Global News reported.

Senior members of the intelligence ministry were directors of Firooznam’s company, while a former vice-president of Iran was a shareholder. Firooznam's business partner in a separate venture was a high-ranking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who had previously spent a decade guarding Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Despite allegations of involvement with Iran's regime, Firooznam managed to obtain a travel visa from the Canadian embassy in Turkey in 2018, ostensibly for visiting tourist attractions. Upon arriving in Toronto, he engaged the services of an immigration lawyer and applied for refugee status.

Earlier this year, an Ontario judge sanctioned his deportation, citing his complicity in Iran's crimes against humanity.

Firooznam, a former member of the IRGC naval branch turned CEO, claimed ignorance of the regime's abuses until 2017. He claimed that he took action against the regime upon discovering that his cameras were used against anti-government opposition.

However, the Canadian Refugee Board rejected his refugee claim in 2021, asserting his complicity in Iran's crimes against humanity. In response, Firooznam filed a new case in the Federal Court of Appeal in November 2023, seeking expedited processing of his immigration application.