Iran war: Scholar tracks uptick in Iran threats on diaspora in Canada, others question deporting official

A scholar researching transnational repression says he’s seeing an uptick in Iran’s regime threatening diaspora in Canada, as experts suggest Ottawa get tougher on countries targeting communities in Canada.

“We can expect, in 2026, transnational repression against Iranian-Canadians to get significantly worse,” University of Ottawa professor Thomas Juneau told the House subcommittee on international human rights on Monday.

Juneau specializes in the Persian Gulf and warned when the United States first started the war on Iran, that Tehran tends to target dissidents abroad when it feels threatened. Reported targeting incidents include surveillance and death threats, and particularly threats and punishment toward relatives still living in Iran.

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“Past patterns tell us that when the Islamic Republic of Iran feels especially vulnerable because of geopolitical pressure and/or domestic political pressure — and second variable, when there is enhanced diaspora mobilization — it speeds up its already high baseline of transnational repression," Juneau testified.

He said this pattern has been tracked after Iran’s destruction of Flight PS752 in 2020 which killed 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents, as well as the 2022 protests that followed the death of a young woman police arrested, allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly.

“The prediction that a number of us are making now is that we are basically seeing the confluence of these two variables now, again, because of geopolitical pressure — the war — and because of the domestic political pressure — the protests of just a few months ago,” Juneau testified.

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University of Ottawa professor John Packer said Canada lacks a co-ordinated response to repression, with no official having a central role to steer federal and provincial agencies.

“We’re behind the curve and at demonstrable peril,” he said.

Experts suggested Canada name perpetrators of transnational repression publicly when incidents occur, and not just sanction officials but launch cases at the International Criminal Court.

The committee heard concerns that Canadian companies operating abroad are enabling repression, such as blocking Hong Kong nationals from accessing their pension funds when Beijing orders a freeze on those savings.