Farzin Jafari, an Iranian man who fled to Canada for safety, is now facing potential deportation due to his past mandatory service in Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which Canada designated as a terrorist organization in 2024. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada sent Procedural Fairness Letters to hundreds of permanent residency applicants suspected of IRGC ties, including Jafari, requiring them to prove their admissibility to Canada. Compulsory military service in Iran is required for all men over 18, with no choice on the branch served, and refusal can result in imprisonment. Jafari completed his mandatory service in 2011 and has since worked as a software engineer while protesting against the Iranian government and advocating for IRGC's terrorist designation in Canada.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-14,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
They came to Canada for safety.
asserted
They → come → safety
Now they’re suspected of supporting the regime they fled
Former conscripts to Iran's Revolutionary Guards face inadmissibility to Canada
Farzin Jafari is facing an impossible choice: wait and hope the Canadian government allows him and his family to remain in Canada, or leave his wife and infant daughter in hopes they can stay if he's deemed inadmissible and forced to return to Iran.
asserted
he → suspect → Iran
“We are hanging from a rope as a family,” he said.
asserted
he → hang → family
“If I leave that rope, open my hand, and fall… at least my family can stay alive.”
asserted
family → leave → hand
Jafari is one of what one advocacy group says is hundreds of permanent residency applicants who received a Procedural Fairness Letter (PFL) from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada in August.
asserted
who → say → August
The letters indicated applicants may be inadmissible to Canada because of their connection to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and would need to prove otherwise.
uncertain
applicants → indicate → Corps
The Canadian government listed the IRGC as a terrorist organization in 2024.
asserted
government → list → 2024
“I am therefore concerned that you served in the IRGC and that you may be inadmissible to Canada per paragraph 34(1)(f) for being a member of an organization … engaging in terrorism,” the letter said.
uncertain
letter → serve → terrorism
Jafari said he didn’t have a choice where he served.
asserted
he → say → choice
“You can't say, ‘I don't want this,’” Jafari said.
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Jafari → say → this
Iran's Revolutionary Guards are a branch of the Iranian military with broad powers that answers directly to the country’s supreme leader.
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that → answer → leader
All Iranian men over the age of 18 are required to complete compulsory military service.
asserted
men → require → service
Proof of service is required to work or obtain a passport and conscripts have no say in the branch they serve under.
asserted
they → require → branch
“If you don't participate in that compulsory period, you can't have your basic civil rights,” Jafari said.
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Jafari → participate → rights
“They are holding you hostage in the country until you pass this period.”
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you → hold → period
If a citizen says they don’t want to serve, they risk being jailed by the Iranian government.
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they → say → government
IRGC deemed a terrorist organization
Jafari completed his mandatory military service in 2011.
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Jafari → deem → 2011
CBC News has seen his completion card, a document provided by the Iranian military that shows he finished compulsory service.
asserted
he → see → service
He described his work as administrative, recording licence plates.
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He → describe → plates
After finishing, he worked privately as a software engineer in Iran before moving to Canada in 2021 to start a family.
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he → finish → family
His wife had been briefly detained by Iranian morality police and he said they feared for their safety.
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they → detain → safety
He has spent much of his free time in Canada protesting the Iranian government and calling for the IRGC’s designation as a terrorist entity.
asserted
He → spend → entity
Jafari and his wife submitted their permanent residency applications in the winter of 2024.
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Jafari → submit → 2024
That summer the Canadian government listed the IRGC as a terrorist organization and said the IRGC had provided support to other terror groups including Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Taliban.
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IRGC → list → Hezbollah
In January 2020, the IRGC shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 above the skies of Tehran and killed 175 passengers, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.
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IRGC → shoot → citizens
Justice Minister Arif Virani said while making the designation on June 19, 2024, the government was concerned about the impact of the listing on those conscripted into the IRGC, but was "careful and measured" in its approach.
"If an individual was conscripted at one point in time and no longer serves with the IRGC, that would affect the analysis," he said at the time.
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he → say → time
So when Jafari and his wife received PFLs because of his mandatory service, he was shocked.
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he → receive → service
I'm a victim of IRGC,” he said.
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he → say → IRGC
‘Hundreds’ of letters sent
Hundreds of applicants received similar letters on Aug. 6 and 7, according to Nahid Rahmati, a representative of the Unheard Conscripts Advocacy Network.
uncertain
Hundreds → send → Network
The group seeks to represent people conscripted to the IRGC and advocate for them within the Canadian immigration system.
asserted
group → seek → system
Rahmati said she’s never seen anyone receive a PFL and be accepted into Canada.
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anyone → say → Canada
“I have seen lots of cases that have been rejected,” she said.
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she → see → cases
“They got the PFL and they got rejected.”
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they → get → PFL
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in a statement it could not confirm the number of letters sent to permanent residency applicants in relation to potential IRGC ties.
uncertain
it → say → ties
Here’s what intelligence experts say
Iranian dissidents in Canada say they're being watched and under threat from the regime in Iran
CBC News spoke with several recipients of the letters, many of whom declined to speak on the record for fear of retribution from the government of Iran.
Letters part of ‘normal’ process
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Letters → ’ → process
In a statement, Canada's immigration and citizenship department said the listing of the guard as a terrorist entity prompts an “assessment of inadmissibility concerns where applications indicate a connection to the IRGC.”
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applications → say → IRGC
“This is a normal part of applying Canada’s immigration law and does not mean that every person who served in the IRGC is automatically inadmissible."
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who → apply → IRGC
Conscripts said it is difficult to prove they did not participate in the IRGC after their mandatory service ended.
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service → say → IRGC
The IRGC does not keep a list of people who left, according to Hossein Raeesi, a criminal and human rights lawyer who practiced in Iran for two decades.
uncertain
who → keep → decades
“Someone who served compulsory military service with the IRGC is not considered as a member of the IRGC,” he said.
asserted
he → serve → IRGC
…and 16 more, not listed.
