Canada imposes new sanctions on Iranian officials, entities over alleged rights abuses

Canada on Wednesday announced new sanctions against Iranian officials and entities over the government’s alleged repression of its population, targeting those accused of digital surveillance and other rights abuses.

In a statement, Global Affairs Canada said Foreign Minister Anita Anand “today announced that Canada is imposing additional sanctions against five individuals and five entities under the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations for their role in the Iranian regime’s brutal repression of its population.”

The statement said the sanctioned individuals and entities, including senior Iranian security and government officials, were allegedly involved in “digital surveillance, censorship, unlawful violence, arbitrary detention and intimidation” aimed at suppressing dissent.

It accused Tehran of continuing to restrict freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, including through cyber infrastructure used to monitor and target dissenting voices.

“Canada is using every tool at its disposal, including targeted sanctions, to respond to the Iranian regime’s abhorrent conduct,” Anand said, voicing solidarity with the Iranian people.

Since October 2022, Canada has imposed 24 rounds of sanctions against 237 Iranian individuals and 265 entities under related measures.