Tehran denies Canada’s new sanctions against Iranian individuals and groups as political motives.
On Friday, Canada announced new sanctions against Iran, targeting seven individuals and groups over links to networks involved in the production of weapons Ottawa claims to have been sent to Russia for use in the Ukrainian war.
According to Canada’s Foreign Ministry, the sanctions “target three individuals and four entities, Iranian businessmen and companies connected to a procurement network that acquires and supplies sophisticated technology that supports the production and sales of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC).”
In a statement on Sunday, Foreign Affairs Minister and Director Issa Cameli said the Ottawa movement was “an illegal and illegal act that violated the human rights of Iranians and allowed the Canadian government to be held internationally liable.”
“The imposition of Canada’s new sanctions on Iran based on the guise of human rights is a political and deceptive action that contradicts the principles of the UN Charter and international law governing free trade between countries,” Camelli said.
Senior Iranian diplomats also accused Canada of being the major human rights violator itself, citing its accomplice in the “genocide of the Palestinians.”
Camelli advised Canadian officials to focus on addressing the shortcomings of their own domestic and foreign policy, rather than accusations against other countries. He urged Ottawa to end “a systematic policy of erasing indigenous people” and to take responsibility for “an accomplices of Israel’s genocide and war crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinians.”
Refusing to file an allegation of Iran’s involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, Kameli reiterated that repeating false claims would not make them true.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is not involved in this conflict. From the start, Iran’s principled position was to oppose the war and seek an end to the conflict through diplomatic negotiations between the parties fighting,” he argued.
RHM/IRN