Mohammadreza Pakatchian mentioned he selected to check aerospace engineering at Carleton College as a result of it was a “nice alternative” to additional his abilities and information.
In its acceptance letter to the Iranian, Carleton College provided him a scholarship, whereas an MP’s workplace spoke with immigration officers about his scholar visa.
However Canada’s nationwide safety companies aren’t so eager on the 41-year-old doctoral scholar.
They’ve flagged Pakatchian as a safety risk, warning that he’s pursuing research that may advance the Islamic Republic’s weapons applications.
Labeled intelligence reviews obtained by International Information allege that Pakatchian works for an Iranian firm that has been sanctioned resulting from its position in weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
He’s additionally related to an Iranian tutorial whose analysis focuses on ballistic missiles and different army expertise, the Canadian Safety Intelligence Service wrote.
Additional, Pakatchian obtained his grasp’s diploma at an Iranian college recognized for its work on uranium enrichment, nuclear implosion and missile steerage, the CSIS report mentioned.
Upon finishing his research in Ottawa, CSIS added, Pakatchian intends to return to the identical sanctioned Iranian firm that employs him to use what he has discovered.
In response to the nationwide safety reviews, Pakatchian, who mentioned he started research at Carleton on-line in 2023, “represents a hazard to the safety of Canada.”
His analysis pursuits “have the potential of getting used for nefarious functions,” a Canada Border Providers Company report added in its report on Pakatchian.
The “information he’ll achieve by his research could possibly be used to contribute to advancing Iran’s army and weapons programs,” it mentioned.
On Feb. 17, immigration officers wrote that if Pakatchian continued pursuing his PhD at Carleton, “the experience gained in Canada will seemingly be transferred and used to additional Iran’s WMD applications.”
Pakatchian didn’t reply to emails, and his lawyer declined to remark, saying he didn’t have his shopper’s permission to talk.
The CBSA and CSIS wouldn’t touch upon the case.
Nor did Carleton College reply to questions on why it accepted a doctoral scholar employed by a sanctioned Iranian firm.
Mohammadreza Pakatchian is pursuing research at Carleton College that Canadian official say will assist Iran’s mass weapons applications.
Fedral Courtroom
The U.S. and Israeli battle that started in February confirmed that Iran’s army had amassed a big stockpile of missiles and drones.
Whereas the 1000’s of missiles Iran launched in the course of the battle weren’t state-of-the-art, they have been a step above these it had used beforehand.
“The efficiency of Iran’s missile, and drone applications for that matter, within the battle of 2026, was higher than what we’ve seen previously,” mentioned Prof. Thomas Juneau.
A Center East knowledgeable on the College of Ottawa, Juneau mentioned that lots of Iran’s missiles failed upon launch throughout 2024 combating with Israel.
“There’s a development of enchancment within the accuracy, but additionally within the reliability,” mentioned Juneau, who teaches on the Graduate Faculty of Public and Worldwide Affairs.
Matthew Levitt, a fellow on the Washington Institute for Close to East Coverage, agreed that Iran’s drones and missiles proved to be “extremely developed” in the course of the current battle.
“Authorities have lengthy been involved that Iranian scientists finding out overseas could also be attempting to fill gaps in information or parts for these applications,” he mentioned.
Juneau mentioned he was not acquainted with Pakatchian’s case, and it was doable the Iranian was pursuing research in Canada for respectable functions.
“However it’s equally conceivable that he could possibly be right here for the very particular functions of coming again to Iran to work on one thing instantly or not directly associated to the missile or drone program,” he mentioned.
“We all know that Iran does that.”
Nonetheless, the deal U.S. President Donald Trump negotiated to finish the battle makes no point out of missiles, and he mentioned final week it could be “unfair” to not enable Iran to own the weapons.
Carleton provided scholarship
Carleton College, Ottawa, Oct. 25, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld.
When Pakatchian first utilized to pursue his PhD at Carleton College in 2022, the dean not solely mentioned he was “happy” to simply accept him but additionally provided him $8,000 in scholarships.
The cash was described as a strategy to offset larger international scholar charges, in line with Pakatchian’s immigration file, which was launched to International Information.
The data additionally present that Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi’s workplace spoke with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada officers a couple of scholar visa for Pakatchian.
Carleton College is a part of Naqvi’s Ottawa Centre driving.
The MP’s workers mentioned in an announcement to International Information that driving workplaces routinely helped constituents with immigration-related issues however have been “not privy” to data from CSIS or CBSA.
Information present the MP’s workplace handled Pakatchian’s case in July 2023 — 4 months after nationwide safety officers had recognized Pakatchian as a safety risk.
Marked Secret/Canadian Eyes Solely, the papers describe worldwide efforts to stop Iran from acquiring the expertise and supplies wanted to develop mass weapons.
The CBSA wrote that in 2018, Trump unilaterally pulled out of the Joint Complete Plan of Motion put in place in 2015 to cease Iran’s nuclear program.
In response, Tehran resumed “proliferation actions, together with amassing a stockpile of enriched uranium and putting in extra centrifuges,” the CBSA wrote.
Trump’s actions left sanctions as a remaining curb on Iran’s mass weapons, and among the many entities focused was MAPNA, the place Pakatchian had labored since 2009.
Canada had sanctioned MAPNA beneath its Particular Financial Measures Act in 2016, citing the corporate for its “grave breach of worldwide peace and safety.”
Pakatchian is a MAPNA designer of axial compressors, which energy jet engines and have each industrial and army makes use of, in line with the CBSA.
When he utilized for a scholar visa to attend Carleton, he named Mahmoud Mani, a professor at Amirkabir College in Tehran, as a reference.
Mani’s analysis is “unequivocally and overwhelmingly centered on army end-use purposes,” akin to missile aerodynamics, rocket engines and ballistic missiles, CSIS mentioned.
At Carleton’s division of aerospace engineering, Pakatchian had chosen as his tutorial supervisor a professor who was conducting analysis involving fighter jets and drones, CSIS added.
“It is a nice alternative for me due to Carleton mechanical engineering infrastructures and college members,” Pakatchian wrote in a letter to Canada’s immigration division.
“So once I come again to my house nation, I can use my acquired information on this space to enhance my present occupation through the use of new state-of-the-art strategies,” he wrote in one other letter.
However in its report on Pakatchian, the CBSA wrote “intangible expertise switch which might advance Iranian army applications” are a safety risk to Canada.
If Pakatchian “is allowed to pursue his research in Canada, an intangible switch of expertise and information might happen which might advance Iran’s army applications and capabilities,” the company wrote.
Iranian missile that landed close to the West Financial institution metropolis of Jericho, June 8, 2026. (AP Picture/Mahmoud Illean).
Pakatchian’s immigration data point out that he arrived in Canada in 2023, the identical 12 months he started his research at Carleton and co-authored a paper with one of many college’s professors.
His present whereabouts are unknown, however in Could, he introduced a case earlier than the Federal Courtroom in search of an order compelling the federal government to rule on his scholar visa.
He additionally needed $10,000 to compensate him for the delays he claimed he confronted awaiting his visa. The decide dismissed his utility on June 9.
Michael Armstrong, an affiliate professor at Brock College’s Goodman Faculty of Enterprise, mentioned many Canadian universities admitted Iranian graduate college students.
Though he was unfamiliar with Tehran’s efforts to enhance its weapons, he mentioned Iranian missiles had confirmed to be strategically profitable.
“The current battle confirmed that Iran’s missiles have been much less correct than it seemingly hoped, however ok for its technique,” the Royal Navy School graduate mentioned.
“In case your goal is a big space like a metropolis, oil refinery, or air base, a lot much less precision is required than for focusing on a particular plane, constructing, or bridge,” he mentioned.
Though many have been intercepted, some hit populated areas, whereas the drones fired at Arab international locations have been extra exact, Armstrong mentioned.
Thwarting Iran’s missile program is especially significant for Canada, resulting from Tehran’s downing of a passenger airplane filled with Canadians six years in the past.
On Jan. 8, 2020, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps missile fired at Ukrainian Airways Flight PS752 killed 85 Canadian residents and everlasting residents.
CSIS mentioned it had been working with Canadian corporations to cease Iran from buying the know-how it wanted to develop extra superior weapons.
In its 2024 annual report, CSIS wrote that it “actively investigates tried procurement of Canadian expertise” to additional Iran’s weapons applications.
