Canada widens Iran sanctions list

Shafaq News- Ottawa

The Government of Canada on Saturday imposed new sanctions on seven individuals linked to Iran, casting their activities as a threat to international peace and security.

In a statement, the Canadian authorities pointed to Iran’s backing of organizations designated by Canada as terrorist entities or already under sanctions —including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Ansarallah (Houthis) in Yemen— through financing, weapons transfers, technology, training, and political and ideological support. The government also accused Tehran of repressing dissent and human rights defenders domestically through violence, surveillance, threats, and arbitrary detention, alongside what it described as cross-border efforts targeting perceived opponents abroad.

So far, Canada has sanctioned 478 Iranian individuals and entities connected to the country’s security, intelligence, and economic sectors, most of them since 2022. The restrictions impose a dealings ban that effectively freezes any assets held in Canada and prohibit Canadians, at home or overseas, from providing funds or property to those listed. Sanctioned individuals are also barred from entering the country under immigration law.

In December 2025, Iran’s foreign ministry branded the Royal Canadian Navy a “terrorist organization,” a move that followed Canada’s June 2024 blacklisting of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity.