Tehran reacts to Canada’s new sanctions against Iran
Tehran has strongly condemned Canada’s recent sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities, calling the move politically motivated, unlawful and illegitimate.
Tehran condemns Canada's new sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities as politically motivated.
On Friday, Canada announced new sanctions on Iran, targeting seven individuals and entities over their alleged links to networks involved in the production of weapons, which Ottawa claims have been sent to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.
According to Canada’s Foreign Ministry, the sanctions “target 3 individuals and 4 entities that are Iranian business people and companies connected to procurement networks that acquire and supply sophisticated technology” that supports the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ (IRGC) weapons production and sales.
In a statement on Sunday, Issa Kameli, assistant to the foreign minister and director general for the Americas at the Foreign Ministry, said Ottawa’s move is an “unlawful and illegitimate act that violates the human rights of the Iranian people, making the Canadian government internationally accountable.”
“Canada’s imposition of new sanctions against Iran under the guise of human rights is a political and deceitful action that contradicts the principles of the United Nations Charter and international laws governing free trade between countries,” Kameli said.
The senior Iranian diplomat also censured Canada for being a major human rights violator itself, citing its complicity in the “genocide of the Palestinian people.”
Kameli advised Canadian officials to focus on addressing their own domestic and foreign policy shortcomings rather than making accusations against other nations. He urged Ottawa to end its “systematic policy of erasing Indigenous populations” and take responsibility for its “complicity in the genocide and war crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.”
Rejecting allegations of Iranian involvement in the Ukraine conflict, Kameli reiterated that repeating false claims does not make them true.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has no involvement in this conflict. From the outset, Iran’s principled position has been to oppose the war and to call for an end to the conflict through diplomatic negotiations between the warring parties,” he asserted.
