Canadian immigration officials have initiated deportation proceedings against five others suspected of being members of the Iranian regime found in Canada, according to recently released figures.

The Canada Border Services Agency claimed that they held senior positions in the repressive Iranian government and requested the Immigration and Refugee Board to hold hearings.

They are facing deportation from Canada under sanctions enacted in 2022 that prohibit tens of thousands of senior Iranian officials, including members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, from entering the country.

The sanctions were imposed after Iran's morality police arrested Mahsa Amini for publicly displaying her hair and killed her while in custody, leading to protests that were violently suppressed.

Since then, this policy has been used to mandate the deportation of two Iranian officials, Majid Iranmanesh, the scientific advisor, and Seyed Salman Samani, who was the deputy interior minister.

However, unlike those cases, which were held publicly, the hearings for the next five are being conducted behind closed doors, and the government has not disclosed their names.

The deportation hearings are supposed to be public unless the individual concerned files an asylum claim. Global News requested to open the proceedings to the press.

Canada severed diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012. In 2020, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard shot down a passenger plane leaving Tehran Airport, killing 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

Canada designated Iran as a "regime involved in terrorism and systematic and gross violations of human rights" in November 2022, making holding senior positions in the Islamic Republic unacceptable in Canada.