Key Takeaways
- Foreign Minister Anita Anand announced two sanctions packages from the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Paris: Canada is reimposing sanctions on 11 Iranian entities.
- Canada is also listing 38 additional Russian entities and 24 individuals, targeting ballistic missile technology,cyber activities and financial enablers including crypto exchanges.
Two Packages, One Podium in Paris
Foreign Minister Anita Anand used the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Paris to announce two sanctions packages in two days.
Against Iran, Canada is reimposing sanctions on 11 entities under the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations — entities the government says contribute to Iran's proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities and ballistic missile program or finance its malign activities. The list, detailed in a Global Affairs backgrounder, includes the National Iranian Oil Company, the National Iranian Tanker Company, Bank Mellat, Bank Melli Iran and Iran's nuclear fuel production and procurement companies. These entities were delisted in 2016 in recognition of Iran's progress under the JCPOA nuclear deal; Ottawa says Iran's repeated failure to cooperate with the IAEA has heightened concerns since. "Canada's position is unequivocal: Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon," Anand said.
Against Russia, Canada is listing an additional 38 entities and 24 individuals — 62 listings — aimed at Russia's defence industrial base, including actors in ballistic missile technology development and cyber activities, and at financial enablers including crypto exchanges that sustain Russia's war economy. "Canada is taking action to undermine Putin's capacity to strike Ukrainian cities with its missiles," Anand said.
The Twikup Take
The Iran move is a door closing that opened a decade ago — the 2016 delistings were the reward for nuclear cooperation, and their reversal is the receipt for its collapse. The Russia package keeps the same theory as the last several: squeeze the missile supply chain and the money channels around it.
Image: Illustrative image.