Canada deports Iran’s 2019 crackdown spokesman: Former interior ministry face of bloody protests deported under Ottawa’s hardline Iran sanctions

Canada has deported former Iranian government spokesman Syed Salman Samani, who was a key figure during the deadly 2019 protests. This is the second removal under Ottawa's 2022 policy that bars senior Iranian officials from entering or staying in the country. Samani held the positions of deputy interior minister and official spokesperson for Iran's Interior Ministry.

After resigning from his government role, he entered Canada on a tourist visa but was deemed "inadmissible" as a "prescribed senior official in the service of a designated regime." Samani argued that returning to Iran could subject him to torture, execution, or suicide. Ottawa designated Iran's government as a state sponsor of terrorism in November 2022, expanding the 2022 sanctions to include officials from 2003 onward.

Samani is the second Iranian official deported under these measures, demonstrating Canada's commitment to enforcing the ban through removals.