Canadian senior security analyst: If Islamic Republic of Iran collapses, regime officials likely to flee to Canada

Jihad Watch recently reported that hundreds of Iranian Islamic regime officials are already in Canada, and may have “significant amounts of stolen money.” Canada, which has experienced over a decade of Liberal government rule, has cultivated just the right conditions, including a “secret visa program” that would enable the worst jihadists, war criminals and IRGC leaders from Iran to settle comfortably inside its borders.

Now, security analyst Casey Babb, senior fellow with the MacDonald Laurier Institute, warns that with a “lengthy track record of Canada serving as a covert haven for Iranian regime officials,” there’s a “good chance” that the inner circles of the Iranian regime would make their way to Canada in exile if the regime falls. “If Iran collapses, regime officials likely to flee to Canada,” by Tristin Hopper, National Post, June 19, 2025:

With the Islamic Republic of Iran seemingly on the edge of collapse, there’s a good chance its surviving inner circle may attempt to flee to Canada.

That’s according to security analyst Casey Babb, and it follows a lengthy track record of Canada serving as a covert haven for Iranian regime officials.

“We know that over the last several years, many, many senior officials of the Iranian regime, despite inadmissibility laws, have already made it in here,” Babb, a senior fellow with the MacDonald Laurier Institute,  said in an interview this week with The Ben Mulroney Show.

As such, Babb said that if the Islamic Republic’s ruling class finds itself sent into exile, they “know how to get into Canada.”…

Several people — people who have been following this issue for years — have told me that senior Iranian officials fleeing Iran are seeking refuge in Canada.

— Casey Babb (@DrCaseyBabb) June 15, 2025

The Iranian Islamic regime’s collapse would be a major blow to its ambitions to revive a global Persian empire based on the Islamic Sharia. But there’s another factor which may influence the regime to try to hold on to power despite the cost: its doomsday theology. The Hidden (or Twelfth) Imam plays a dominant role in the official religion of Iran, Twelver Shi’ism. There is a messianic belief that at the end of days, the Hidden Imam will appear in the midst of a violent apocalyptic scenario played out on a battleground stained with infidels’ blood.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has also spread its tentacles are also far beyond its own region, with its proxies scattered throughout the globe and driven by religious zeal.

In 2012, I reported in the Gatestone Institute about a tight network of Iranian jihad terrorists expanding as a “fifth column” in Canada, with the ultimate goal of attacking the United States.

In 2019, Iranian proxy Hezbollah’s external operations group, known as Unit 910, was reported to be “even more active in Canada than they were in the United States.” And only two months ago, the Canada Border Services Agency reported that 20 Iranians “who had served in high-level positions with the Tehran government have been found to be living in Canada…. This is despite the fact that Canada has explicitly barred Iranian officials from entering the country since 2022, announcing it as part of a new package of measures to keep war criminals out of Canada.”

That “secret visa program” should be of concern to anyone who is paying attention. More about it:

According to internal government documents obtained by Global News, Canada has a secret program that allows certain “high-profile” foreign nationals who would otherwise be barred from entering the country due to national security concerns, war crimes, human rights violations and organized crime to be granted special “public policy” entry visas so long as it is in Canada’s “national interest.”

But exactly what “national interest” means in relation to this policy and how the government decides who gets this kind of visa is unclear. That’s because there’s almost no information available about the program, and the government refuses to answer questions. 

There is further evidence of Iranian Islamic regime activity going on in Canada for some time. This points to why regime thugs may make their way to Canada as Casey Babb warns:

• In 2016, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre quietly traveled to Iran, where he signed a groundbreaking agreement to “boost mutual cooperation in various fields.” The deal was shrouded in mystery.
  
• That same year, Liberal MP Majid Jowhari was also discovered to be lobbying the Canadian government to reopen embassies in Ottawa and Iran. Jowhari had previously gone so far as to sponsor a petition, which featured over 5,600 names, to reestablish diplomatic ties with Iran.
• By 2017, the Iranian Canadian Congress was pressuring the Trudeau government to “fulfill its promise and re-engage with Iran.” Jihad Watch also reported at that time that Iran, despite the closure of its embassy, continued to expand its interests in Canada, endangering dissidents and facilitating a Fifth Column.
• Also in 2017, the Toronto Sun published a story: Trudeau cozies up to Iran’s brutal regime. The report revealed that government officials were in Tehran “visiting the despotic tyrants that rule over the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.”
• There was also a sudden shift in Liberal government policy that year. The Montreal Gazette reported that Stephane Dion abruptly quit as Trudeau prepared to face the Trump era. Dion’s resignation coincided with the end of the Canadian government’s plans to reengage with the Iranian regime, as Dion had promised to do.
• In 2019, Unit 910 of the Iranian proxy Hizballah, known as its Black Ops — in charge of foreign operations — was found, as noted above, to be more active in Canada than in the US. In fact, a Hizballah operative with Unit 910 collected “detailed information” about Toronto’s Pearson airport, in order to plan attacks.
• In 2020, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service  (CSIS) warned that Iran used a Toronto company to wire millions to Canada, despite sanctions. Alireza Onghaei, the owner of ONG Currency Exchange Inc. on Toronto’s Yonge Street, was accused of funneling millions of dollars into Canada from Iran from Bank Saderat, which is controlled by the Iranian regime.
• Also in 2020, Liberal MP Majid Jowhari was back in the news, accused this time not only of direct connections to Iran, but also of receiving payments from Iran. This accusation overtly linked an elected Canadian politician with the Iranian regime.

Kaveh Shahrooz, a lawyer, human rights activist, and Senior Fellow with Macdonald Laurier Institute’s Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad, also weighed in about Majid Jowhari on his Facebook page:

Meanwhile, Jowhari remained a Liberal MP until March 2025, touted by Trudeau as a “strong advocate” of human rights, even as he roiled Iranian-Canadian dissidents over his support for the Iranian regime. That support included a 2018 invitation to a delegation of “people with strong links to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC), the enforcers of the ayatollahs’ regime.” The actual name of the IRGC is Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Jowhari discussed setting up “a parliamentary friendship group between the two countries,” as well as “reopening Tehran’s shuttered embassy in Ottawa.”

Accountability of the Liberal government to the Canadian people is grossly lacking. With Iran regime thugs already inside Canada, and with more expected in the horizon (include proxies), the populace could become sitting ducks. Particularly concerning is the well-being of Iranian dissidents, who should be safe in their adopted country. Iranian regime officials will also likely have a negative impact on the already soaring antisemitism problem in Canada.