Canada Sanctions More Iranian Officials Over Drones, Protests Crackdown

This is the 10th round of sanctions imposed by Ottawa against Tehran since October 2022 targeting officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) for "gross and systematic human rights violations".

The Canadian foreign ministry said in a statement Monday that some senior Iranian officials involved in unmanned aerial vehicle and ballistic missile production are also designated, referring to its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine and other conflict zones.

Hassan Hassanzadeh, commander of IRGC forces in Tehran, Abbas-Ali Mohammadian, Chief of Police in Tehran, and Imen Sanat Zaman Fara, a company that manufactures equipment for security forces are among the people and bodies sanctioned by Canada.

"We call on the Iranian regime to stop the brutal oppression of Iran’s people and to address their demands in good faith," Foreign Minister Melanie Joly stressed in the statement.

The sanctioned entities support "the Iranian regime by helping them disrupt and manipulate the online communications of those protesting the regime or by supplying the LEF with tactical equipment used in the brutal suppression of demonstrations," reads the statement.

Tension between the Islamic republic and the West have mounted over Tehran's nuclear activity and its supply of drones for Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as the Islamic Republic's suppression of anti-government-protests. The clerical regime denies selling drones to Moscow for use in the Ukraine war.

Canada joins a raft of other countries sanctioning Iran since protests began in September including the EU, UK and Australia though the regime is defiantly forging its way ahead with its nuclear goals and support of conflicts globally.