Liberals face questions after former IRGC official was reportedly granted visa for FIFA event

in-migration government minister lena river Diab says she's accountable after a senior iranian language association football official with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a listed terrorist group in Canada — was granted documents to travel to the country ahead of a pre-FIFA World Cup gathering in Vancouver, before ultimately getting turned around.

But Diab, who spent an hour fielding pointed questions about the case during a parliamentary committee Thursday afternoon, said she was not made aware of the decision to issue Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj documents to enter the country.

"I'm definitely accountable. But I would not have been part of that decision-making process," she said during an exchange with Conservative MP Dane Lloyd.

The Liberals have come under pressure to explain how Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj and his delegation were grant the necessary documents to travel to Canada for the FIFA Congress, which brings together more than 200 national soccer associations annually to vote on key issues.

The delegation was turned away after landing at Toronto's Pearson Airport on Tuesday, said Iranian state-affiliated media.

Diab says she didn't know Iranian soccer official with IRGC ties was given permit to enter Canada

Taj is a former commander in the IRGC, the regime’s military and security force, which Canada listed as a terrorist entity in 2024.

That means under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, thousands of senior Iranian government officials including top IRGC members are inadmissible to Canada. Both serving and former senior Iranian government officials who are in Canada can also be investigated and removed.

Diab told committee his documents were cancelled while he was mid-flight.

"The individual had no status to come into Canada. By the time they landed, they left. They are back in their own country," she told the parliamentary committee.

"We are very much looking forward to learning what happened in this case to ensure it does not happen in the FIFA games that are happening in the month of June and July."

PM says IRGC members ‘prohibited from entering this country and they will not enter this country’

However, Iran International, the agency that first broke the story, reported that sources within the Canadian government said Taj had been issued a temporary resident permit, a discretionary document that allows a foreign national who is otherwise inadmissible to enter or remain in Canada.   

The department's most senior bureaucrat, deputy minister Ted Gallivan, testified at committee that "this shouldn't happen again."

"Decisions are made based on the information available. It's clear in this case that the decision made wasn't the one that we wanted," he said.

"I'm not going as far as offering my resignation by answering, but I want to make clear, Mr. Chair, I'm accountable. It happened under my watch. I'm very motivated to tightening the controls within Canada's immigration system."

Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters Thursday that he can't comment on the specifics of individual cases, but defended Canada's immigration system.

"There are multiple hurdles in order to get into the country, and I think the important thing is that those hurdles are effective and we continue to see that," he said during a news conference in Oakville, Ont.

"There's always reviews of what's been done and where things can be improved. But the core assurance to Canadians is members of the Revolutionary Guard rightly have been prohibited from entering this country, and they will not enter this country." 

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand suggested Wednesday there was a mistake in the system.  

"It's not my personal lead, but my understanding is that there is a revocation of the permission. It was unintentional, but I'll leave it to the minister to indicate," Anand told reporters outside of West Block in Ottawa. 

The incident not only raises question about how a former IRGC commander was granted documents needed to board a plane to Canada, but also comes as global tensions remain high amid a shaky ceasefire between the United States and the Middle Eastern country.

Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner says Carney's response "abdicates responsibility," adding "there's no planet on which a high ranking member, a member of a listed terrorist organization, should be given a permit to come to this country."

"They made a conscious decision," she said Wednesday. "There are a lot of people in the country right now who have legitimate fears and have watched as other members of this regime slip through the cracks, and that should be the first priority, period."

Garner added that cases like this are "why Canadians are losing faith in immigration system at large.

"They see it as a dumpster fire," she said.

Conservatives seek answers after Iranian with IRGC ties reportedly given temporary resident permit

Immigration lawyer Joshua Slayen said Taj would have had to submit an application to come to Canada.

"We see flukes all the time. This may have been a blooper by [Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada], or IRCC may have read a fantastic application and believed that this person was not a threat to Canadian society," he said.

"We see that all the time where we get approvals that shock us, and we get refusals that are just plain unreasonable and unfair."

Maj and his delegation told Iranian state media they view their airport run-in as an insult.

This year's congress is being held in British Columbfia weeks before the start of the World Cup. The international soccer championship is being jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the U.S. 

Iran is one of 48 nations that have qualified for the World Cup, but their participation has been called into doubt since the U.S and Israel-led strikes in late February triggered the ongoing war.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated last week that Iranian players will be allowed into the country, but said anyone deemed to have links to the IRGC will be denied entry.

The team is slated to play two games in Inglewood, Calif., and one in Seattle during the tournament's group stage.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino told the congress Thursday that "of course" Iran will play its matches.

"And the reason for that is very simple, dear friends: It's because we have to unite," he said. "Football unites the world."

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