Canada Targets Senior Iranian Officials with New Sanctions

Canada has imposed sanctions on Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and six other Iranian individuals accused of involvement in activities “that gravely threaten international peace and security or that constitute gross and systemic violations of human rights in Iran.”

“Today’s sanctions send a clear message to the Iranian regime that Canada will not tolerate its gross and systematic violations of human rights and its ongoing grave breach of international peace and security. We will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to respond to Iran’s egregious actions,” Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly said in a statement on August 8.

The European Union, the United States, the UK, Canada and other countries have issued several rounds of sanctions against the Islamic Republic in recent months over its crackdown on anti-establishment protests and its supply of drones to Russia for its war effort in Ukraine. 

Canada has sanctioned a total of 170 Iranian individuals and 192 entities since October 2022. In 2012, it designated the Islamic Republic as a state supporter of terrorism.

Those targeted in Canada’s latest round of sanctions include senior officials “involved in entities that supply materials to Iran’s repressive national Law Enforcement Command,” the statement reads. “The sanctions also target individuals who occupy senior positions in state-directed firms that produce lethal combat drones used by Iran’s armed forces to destabilize the region or that are exported to Russia for use in its illegal war against Ukraine.”

Besides Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the list of those sanctioned includes:

- Brigadier General Abdolkarim Bani Tarafi, chairman of the Iran Aviation Industry Organization of the Ministry of Defense;

- Fatemeh Haghshenas, chief executive officer of Imen Sanat Zaman Fara, which manufactures equipment for the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF);

- Masoumeh Teymouri, chief of the Board of Directors of Imen Sanat Zaman Fara;

- Reza Khaki, a member of the Board of Directors of Qods Aviation Industries, a state-own company that designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles;

- Majid Reza Niyazi-Angili, a member of the Board of Directors of Qods Aviation Industries;

- Vali Arlanizadeh, member of the Board of Directors of Qods Aviation Industries.

The sanctions will effectively freeze any assets they may hold in Canada.

“Today’s sanctions build on Canada’s efforts to press the Iranian regime to address the legitimate grievances and interests of its citizens and impose costs for its destabilizing behaviour abroad,” the Canadian statement says. “Canada is committed to protecting global peace and security and will continue to stand with the Iranian people as they courageously defend their human rights.”