A former Iranian official now living in Toronto had a “critical” role in helping the Islamic Republic generate revenue needed to fund Middle East terror groups, according to government documents obtained by Global News.
A Canada Border Services Agency report released on Tuesday alleges that as a deputy director in Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, Abbas Omidi, assisted with the regime’s state sponsorship of terrorism.
The 2024 report, which details why Omidi should be expelled from Canada, said the Iranian mining sector in which he served at a senior level was closely linked to the military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“As a result of his power and influence, the subject directly benefited the Iranian economy and the government’s ability to continue to fund terrorism and human rights abuses throughout the world,” the CBSA wrote.
“As the only individual qualified to continue to perform his specific role, the subject was critical in the Iranian government’s continued ability to draw in mining revenue and fund the military, weapons manufacturing, and terrorism, both foreign and domestic.”
The report was among hundreds of pages of documents disclosed to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) at Omidi’s deportaton hearing earlier this year. The IRB released a redacted version at the request of Global News.
The CBSA is trying to deport Omidi on the grounds he was a longtime senior official in Iran’s repressive regime. The refugee board did not respond to an email from Global News asking whether it had ordered his deportation.
Before arriving in Canada as a visitor in 2022, Omidi was an official in Iran’s mining and trade ministry. The CBSA alleged in its report that he “exerted significant influence on the exercise of government power.”
He is among 37 suspected senior Iranian regime members found living in Canada since the government launched a crackdown against them in 2022 in response to Tehran’s suppression of protests.
Canadian government chart on Iranian regime structure.
Immigration and Refugee Board
Omidi’s deportation hearing began in March. Although he tried to ban the press from the proceedings, Global News successfully fought his application for a private hearing.
The allegations that Omidi helped Iran’s regime make the money it needed to support terrorist groups did not come up at his hearing, but the CBSA report on him repeatedly mentions the issue.
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The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) relies “heavily” on mining revenues to support regional terror groups, the CBSA said in its report on the 56-year-old Iranian citizen.
“The abundant amount of wealth generated from the mining industry allows the Iranian regime and specifically, the IRGC, to continue to be a state sponsor of terrorism,” the report said.
“The IRGC has consistently provided financial and other material support including financing, training, technology transfer, advanced weapons, guidance, or direction to a broad range of terrorist organizations.”
They include Lebanon’s Hezbollah as well as Kata’ib Hizballah, a Shia Iraqi militia that has allegedly claimed responsibility for attacks in Europe and shootings targeting the U.S. consulate and a synagogue in Toronto.
The IRGC provides up to $100 million to Palestinian terror groups Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the report said.
Its support for Hezbollah totals $700 million, while another $300 million is allotted to other terror factions, according to the CBSA.
“Considering that the mining sector is responsible for approximately 40 percent of Iran’s gross domestic product, the regime’s ability to fund the IRGC, army, and foreign terrorist organizations is heavily dependent on the success of the mining industry,” the CBSA said.
Omidi “directly and significantly impacted and benefited the Iranian economy and the government’s ability to continue to fund its military, weapons production, and terrorism and human rights abuses throughout the world,” the report said.
It added that he did so while earning a salary “four times higher than the national average.”
Omidi’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
At his hearing, Omidi acknowledged he had served as a deputy director general in the ministry of mining but downplayed his importance, insisting his role was mostly technical.
Iranian Canadians have long complained that past and present members of the brutal regime they fled were turning up in the country and treating it as a safe haven.
The federal government banned all senior officials of the Iranian government from Canada four years ago, but has struggled to deport them.
According to figures released by the CBSA on Aug. 4, immigration enforcement officers have launched 182 investigations into suspected “senior officials of the Iranian regime” in Canada.
Eight of them left Canada before their deportations hearings began. The IRB has issued deportation orders against four more on the grounds they were top regime members.
Two have been removed. The CBSA confirmed to Global News on Aug. 17 that the latest to go was Syed Salman Samani, who was Iran’s deputy interior minister.
The CBSA said it was in the process of expelling two more, which would bring the total number who have left Canada to 12.
Fifty-two investigations are still underway, according to the department’s figures.
Separately, the CBSA has launched deportation proceedings against 51 Iranian citizens based on their membership in the IRGC, a listed terrorist entity under Canadian law.
“Final decisions on these allegations are made by the IRB after an admissibility hearing. In nine of these cases, the alleged IRGC member departed Canada prior to an admissibility hearing,” the CBSA said.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
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