Iran’s embassy in Ottawa, closed since 2012, defaced by anti-regime protesters

By Canadian Press on January 13, 2026.

OTTAWA — Iran’s embassy in Ottawa has been defaced, and a video posted to social media shows a protester behind a security fence removing Iran’s national emblem from the building and prodding around a gated window.

The Canadian Press has not verified the video, reportedly recorded early Monday morning, though the national emblem had been removed from the embassy building as of Monday afternoon and footsteps in the snow were visible behind the embassy’s gate.

While Canada cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012, diplomatic missions are generally believed to be protected under the Vienna Convention even when states withdraw their ambassadors.

In Canada, the Swiss embassy is Iran’s protecting power — a neutral country placed in charge of another country’s diplomatic properties and some consular services inside a state where it no longer has an official presence.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations acknowledged a query from The Canadian Press but has not yet provided a statement, while the Ottawa Police and Swiss Embassy did not have an immediate comment.

The removed emblem is the seal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a rounded emblem that appears on the country’s flag, and it has been replaced by a sign and a flag featuring a lion and a sun, which was Iran’s national emblem before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2026.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press