Subhead:An official linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terrorist organization in Canada, was recently granted entry into the country as a temporary resident.#
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An officer with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is set to touch down in Canada today. Mehdi Taj has reportedly been granted a temporary resident permit and is landing, or has already landed, in Vancouver as of April 28.
Taj is also known as a senior official within Iran’s football federation.
مهدی تاج باید دیپورت شود!
Canada must deport Mehdi Taj back to Iran immediately.ICHR is concerned about the decision to grant a temporary resident permit to Mehdi Taj, an IRGC officer and a senior Iranian football federation official who is currently in Canada. pic.twitter.com/JG5K2vfka5
— International Center For Human Rights (@ICHRCanada) April 28, 2026
In June 2024, Canada officially designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization, four years after the Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was shot down by IRGC forces, killing 176 people, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.
Canada’s listing was driven by the IRGC’s January 2020 shoot-down of Flight PS752, killing 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents.
Multiple plots against Iranian-Canadian dissidents in Toronto and Vancouver since 2021 further motivated the June 2024 designation.
🧵 21/26 pic.twitter.com/8UaN8a2utE
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) November 27, 2025
Despite that designation, enforcement appears non-existent.
Reports have long suggested a significant IRGC presence in Canada. In 2023, Global News cited at least 700 operatives in the country, while more recent reporting from the New York Post has put that number as high as 1,000.
