Canadian authorities announced Friday sanctions against Iran affecting four new Iranian individuals and five entities in retaliation for «systematic» human rights violations in the country in the context of protests.
«As the Iranian regime continues to violently repress society, we affirm our solidarity with the people of Iran, who have courageously denounced the regime for its human rights abuses, especially those of women and girls,» Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement.
Joly assured that the «Iranian regime continues to use fear and violence to suppress the rights and freedoms of all Iranians.» «Today we reiterate our support for those who refuse to put up with this repression any longer,» she added.
Specifically, the new sanctions, according to the Foreign Ministry statement, extend to Morteza Talaei, who is a second brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a former commander of Tehran’s Security Forces.
Also on the ‘blacklist’ is Ali Ghanaatkar Mavardiani, who is a judge, prosecutor and interrogator who previously worked at the Evin Prison Court before being appointed head of the Prosecutor’s Office of one of Tehran’s districts.
Also included is the commander of the special units of the police forces, Hasan Karami, and a commercial and cargo airline that has coordinated several military flights between Iran and Russia carrying Iranian drones, Safiran Airport Services.
Two other companies have been sanctioned: the Javan news agency, which disseminates, according to Canada, «anti-Semitic messages and regime propaganda», as well as a company that has agreements with the Basij forces to provide technological services.
The death in custody of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman arrested for allegedly wearing the veil incorrectly, has sparked protests across the country, which have resulted in the deaths of more than 400 people, according to the latest data collected by the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR).
