Canada scuttles Iranian soccer delegates' entry for conference ahead of World Cup

Canada this week turned away Iranian soccer officials from entering the country for a conference of FIFA, the international football body, just weeks from the World Cup, but a senior government official said the refusal may have been unintentional, media reports said Thursday.

Iranian media reported Wednesday that the country’s delegation was not allowed into Canada after touching down at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.

Canada is co-hosting the World Cup, along with Mexico and the US. The tournament is set to kick off in six weeks, and the Iranians, including Iranian Football President Mehdi Taj, were supposed to attend a FIFA conference in Vancouver.

The Iranians said the refusal to enter Canada was an insult. Taj was a former commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a group listed by Canada and the US as a terror organization, though not Mexico.

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said Wednesday that the slight may have been a mistake, as the Canadian government said Taj had been issued a temporary permit to attend the conference. But Anand said the ban falls under the jurisdiction of Lena Diab, the immigration minister.

"It's not my personal lead, but my understanding is that there is a revocation of the permission,” said Anand. “It was unintentional, but I'll leave it to the minister to indicate," she said.

But in an email to public broadcaster the CBC, an official from Diab’s office said all temporary permits are carefully reviewed.

"While we cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy laws, the government has been clear and consistent: IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country," said Taous Ait, Diab's spokesman.

“We have taken strong action to hold IRGC to account.”

Without commenting on the details of the incident with Taj, Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters that Canada has listed all IRGC members and their affiliates as a "terrorist organization for several years."

"The members are prohibited from coming. We have a series of screenings," Carney said. "We take action and no members have entered the country, action has been taken, appropriately."

While he did not give details, Carney also stated that more than 20,000 individuals have been prevented from entering Canada, but explained that not all were IRGC members.

Carney further assured that both current and former members of IRGC are prohibited from entering the country.

*Merve Aydogan contributed to the story from Hamilton, Canada.