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FIRST READING: Potential new Iranian power broker has extensive ties to Canada

Ali Larijani, one of the lead architects of the January massacres of Iranian civilians, is alleged to have nieces and nephews across Canada

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FIRST READING: Potential new Iranian power broker has extensive ties to Canada Back to video

After a whirlwind few days that saw much of Iran’s line of succession killed in U.S. and Israeli air strikes, a surviving official poised to fill the leadership vacuum happens to have Canadian family connections.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, is widely reported as being one of the most powerful surviving members of the Iranian ruling elite following the Saturday assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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He’s one of five Larijani brothers who have served in top posts in the Iranian hierarchy. “The Larijani family is at the head of the Iranian state,” reads a 2016 CSIS analysis.

And at least two of those brothers have spent significant amounts of time on Canadian soil, and allegedly still have Canadian family.

IRAN AND CANADA Ari Larijani may become one of the most powerful figures in Iran --- if the regime survives. This will be interesting, as he is one of the powerful five Larijani brothers. His brother, S. Mohammad M.A Larijani, used to live on the Cote des Neiges in Montreal.… pic.twitter.com/iY34RtzbEN— Tom Quiggin (@TomTSEC) March 1, 2026

IRAN AND CANADA Ari Larijani may become one of the most powerful figures in Iran --- if the regime survives. This will be interesting, as he is one of the powerful five Larijani brothers. His brother, S. Mohammad M.A Larijani, used to live on the Cote des Neiges in Montreal.… pic.twitter.com/iY34RtzbEN

One brother, Fazel Larijani, served as a cultural affairs attaché at Ottawa’s Iranian embassy before Canada severed diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic in 2012.

Larijani would end up attached to a Toronto building that once operated as the Centre for Iranian Studies, and would end up being caught in a Canadian government freeze of Iranian assets in 2012. The building was owned by Farhangeiran Inc., which listed Fazel as president.

Iranian-Canadian activists have alleged that members of Fazel’s family remain resident in Canada.

A 2024 report by the London-based outlet Iran International detailed how another brother, Bagher Ardeshir Larijani, was granted Canadian permanent residency in September 2017, only to have the status rescinded because he failed to reside in Canada for at least 730 days over the course of five years.

That same report wrote that Bagher’s son “is now a Canadian citizen.”

Canada is home to one of the world’s largest Iranian diaspora communities, which explains why Canadian cities were subject to massive weekend demonstrations celebrating the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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A rally of about 1,000 people in Ottawa hung flowers on the gates of the city’s U.S. embassy, and even pelted U.S. embassy staffers with roses when they came outside to observe.

But Canada’s Iranian diaspora has often warned that regime officials were embedding themselves within the community, and using Canada as a vacation spot or safe haven for their family.

In 2021, for instance, Iranian-Canadians reported seeing Morteza Talaei, a former Tehran police chief, working out at a Toronto gym. Talaei had been active in the violent put-down of 2003 demonstrations that included the death in custody of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi.

Ali Larijani, in addition to being a potential power broker in the new Iran, also happens to be one of the figures responsible for the massacre of Iranian anti-government demonstrators throughout the month of January. An estimated 30,000 people have been killed, including at least one Canadian citizen.

This is why the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned him personally on Jan. 15.

“Larijani is responsible for coordinating the response to the protests on behalf of the Supreme Leader of Iran and has publicly called for Iranian security forces to use force to repress peaceful protesters,” reads a statement.

It was around that time that U.S. officials took notice, in addition to his Canadian nieces and nephews, Larijani’s children lived and worked in the United States.

Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, Ali’s daughter, had been working on the faculty at the Emory University School of Medicine until she was removed last month following public pressure, including from Georgia Congressman Buddy Carter. In a letter, Carter wrote that Ardeshir-Larijani was the daughter of a man who had “publicly advocated violence against Americans and U.S. allies.”

Emory University has dismissed Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, the daughter of the US-sanctioned security chief of the Islamic Republic, the university confirmed to Iran International on Saturday, following growing calls for her removal.https://t.co/XBDQghyE6Y pic.twitter.com/HOGM8DTHAi— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) January 24, 2026

Emory University has dismissed Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, the daughter of the US-sanctioned security chief of the Islamic Republic, the university confirmed to Iran International on Saturday, following growing calls for her removal.https://t.co/XBDQghyE6Y pic.twitter.com/HOGM8DTHAi

“In light of these facts, Dr. Ardeshir-Larijani’s continued role treating American patients at a major U.S. medical institution is unacceptable,” he added.

Canada has explicitly barred the entry of senior Iranian officials since 2022, including an explicit sanction on Sadeq Ardeshir Larijani, another of the five Larijani brothers.

Nevertheless, Canada has been slow to eject Iranian officials already in the country. Global News reported last April that the Canada Border Services Agency has tracked down 20 Iranian officials deemed ineligible to remain in Canada, but only one had been successfully removed.

Just a few days after the OECD came out in praise of Canada’s Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, said budget officer will soon be out of a job with no set replacement. Jason Jacques’ six-month term expires Monday. In his brief stint he’s often been particularly critical of the state of federal budgeting. He once described federal deficits as “shocking” and “stupefying,” and also said that the Carney government has adopted a definition of “capital” so broad that it’s followed by no other government on earth.

First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here.

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