Winnipeg judge grants Iranian voyeur a conditional discharge to avoid deportation

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The two women were both in their 20s at the time of the offences.

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After they noticed he was filming them “from behind,” the women filed a formal complaint with their employer on Jan. 9, 2025, and “Mir Heidari was immediately suspended.”

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The women contacted police two days later, who searched Mir Heidari’s apartment, seizing documents and his cell phone.

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A forensic analysis of his cell phone located 55 images of the victims. Investigators also found 82 images and short videos in a folder on the phone dubbed “project session.”

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While there were some duplicates, the images and videos “depict the victims’ faces, buttocks and backsides, all taken without their knowledge or consent.”

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One of his victims “stated that this incident has changed her life forever, affecting her mental and physical health, her career and her sense of safety,” said the decision.

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“Mr. Mir Heidari’s actions made her feel objectified and sexualized in a place where she was just doing her job. She is still scared about what was being done with the images, since they were beyond her control.”

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His other victim “said that she felt violated by Mr. Mir Heidari’s actions. Watching him take photos on the video footage made her physically sick. His actions took away her sense of safety, dignity and ability to trust. She is now hyper vigilant.”

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Mir Heidari, who was born in Tehran, relocated to Dubai with his family “when he was young, and he spent most of his formative years there,” said the decision.

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His parents now live in Iran. His father sent him to Canada at the age of 17 to complete high school at the International College of Manitoba.

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Mir Heidari later obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba, where he met his wife — a banker who lives in Minneapolis, Minn. — in 2017.

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She is unable to work in Canada because her application for a work visa was denied. She returned to the United States in January 2026, after a removal order was issued.

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Mir Heidari “says he is unable to work in the United States or even enter that country, as Iran is one of seven banned Muslim countries.”

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“They are committed to their marriage, but … the future of their relationship is unknown given the uncertainties surrounding their residencies,” said the decision.

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Mir Heidari “was experiencing a professional and a personal crisis” around the time of the offences, said the decision, which notes he was working long hours in a “toxic” environment.

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“During this time, his wife’s inability to work in Canada meant they were apart geographically, which fractured their intimacy and communication,” it said.

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“He also felt culturally isolated and lacked supports. Mr. Mir Heidari says he relied on pornography as a mechanism to cope with these challenges. He says his use of pornography is now more limited.”

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