{"id":326654,"date":"2026-04-30T03:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T21:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=326654"},"modified":"2026-04-30T03:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T21:47:13","slug":"anand-backs-report-iran-soccer-officials-had-canada-entry-permission-revoked-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/30\/anand-backs-report-iran-soccer-officials-had-canada-entry-permission-revoked-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Anand backs report Iran soccer officials had Canada entry permission revoked – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Wednesday it\u2019s her \u201cunderstanding\u201d that Iranian soccer officials saw their permission to enter Canada revoked ahead of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not my personal lead, but my understanding is that there’s a revocation of the permission. It was unintentional, but I\u2019ll leave it to the minister to point,\u201d Anand said when asked concerning the situation on her way into query period.<\/p>\n

Tasnim, an Iranian news agency related to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj and two other Iranian officials were denied entry because of \u201cinappropriate behaviour of immigration officials\u201d at Toronto\u2019s Pearson Airport.<\/p>\n

The net news outlet Iran International first reported that Taj had been granted a visa on Monday and that he had been faraway from Canada late Tuesday evening because of his connections to the IRGC, a listed terrorist entity in Canada.<\/p>\n

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Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner credited that reporting for Taj being denied entry to Canada and said she\u2019s left to wonder if he would have been capable of enter Canada without it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did the guy get on a plane? He\u2019s an Iranian regime official, like, clearly documented. I believe an easy Google search would have told them that,\u201d Rempel Garner said after query period.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s either gross incompetence or something worse. And the federal government\u2019s going to must answer for that because there\u2019s a whole lot of members of the diaspora who’re persecuted by regime officials.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rempel Garner said she\u2019s \u201cflabbergasted\u201d that Taj managed to get to Canada in the primary place and doesn\u2019t know why the immigration minister hasn\u2019t spoken publicly concerning the situation.<\/p>\n

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An emailed response from Immigration Minister Lena Diab\u2019s office said all visa applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis by trained officials.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhile we cannot comment on individual cases because of privacy laws, the federal government has been clear and consistent: IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada and don’t have any place in our country,\u201d said Taous Ait, Diab\u2019s press secretary.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we have taken strong motion to carry the IRGC to account and can proceed to accomplish that, while protecting the protection of Canadians and upholding the integrity of our immigration system.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about Taj at a Toronto press conference Thursday, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said he couldn\u2019t talk about specific cases because of privacy laws but individuals with ties to terrorist organizations will not be welcome in Canada.<\/p>\n

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