Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board has issued a deportation order against Amin Yousefi-Jam, a former Tehran police lieutenant who lives in Toronto. The body found that he was a member of a criminal network that circumvented sanctions to send "dual-use" goods from the United States to the Islamic Republic. The 36-page ruling, issued this summer, has now been made public.
According to Christopher Marcinkiewicz, a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board, Yousefi-Jam was responsible for procurement and for coordinating the network's shipments. The shipments included electronic components, motors and equipment with both civilian and military uses. The network used the United Arab Emirates as a transit hub, and the goods were moved from one container to another in the intermediary country to hide their real destination. The board stressed that he joined the network knowingly and with the intent to circumvent sanctions. His claim that he was merely following the orders of his brother, Arash Yousefi-Jam, the network's ringleader, was rejected.
The Yousefi-Jam case in the United States and the change of identity
In 2021, Yousefi-Jam was arrested in Toronto at the request of the United States and extradited to Michigan, where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to send sensitive technology to Iran. Born in Tehran as Amin Ricky, he changed his name in Ontario to "Amin Cohen" after his conviction. On the name-change form, he answered no to the question about a criminal conviction record. The Immigration Board deemed this answer a knowing submission of false information to a government body and found him not credible.
His brother, a Canadian citizen who faces no immigration action, changed his name to "Arash Cohen". His dental licence was revoked in Ontario in 2024.
Prosecuting the Islamic Republic's agents in Canada
Canada has banned the entry of senior Islamic Republic officials since 2022. By 1 October this year, the Canada Border Services Agency had identified 40 high-ranking officials of the regime in the country's cities. Of these, two have been deported, eight have left the country, two are awaiting deportation, and the cases of the rest are proceeding before the Immigration Board. Yousefi-Jam has said he is still in Canada and is "weighing his options". He did not say whether he has appealed the ruling.
The ruling comes as Western countries have stepped up the prosecution of the Islamic Republic's financing and procurement networks. One example is the case of two men arrested in Britain on suspicion of helping the Islamic Republic's intelligence. Tether's claim of a 94 percent drop in transactions linked to the regime has also been made in the same context.
Canada is deporting a former Tehran police officer who procured dual-use goods for the Islamic Republic.
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