Canada imposed new sanctions targeting Iranian companies and individuals, claiming Tehran’s “systematic violations of human rights.”
The Canadian government said, in a statement published on Friday evening, that it had “expanded its sanctions against Iran to include a number of companies and individuals, including the retired Brigadier General of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Morteza Talaei, who was seen in a gym in the Canadian city of Toronto in 2021.”
The statement added, “The sanctions included 3 Iranian individuals and 5 entities under the Canadian Economic Measures Act for Systematic Human Rights Violations Committed in Iran.”
And Talaei is a former chief of Tehran police, according to the same statement.
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And the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that “Talaei was the chief of Tehran police in 2003 when the Canadian-Iranian photojournalist, Zahra Kazemi, was beaten to death after taking pictures of the “Evin” prison in Tehran.
Kazemi was arrested in 2003 for taking pictures of the notorious Evin prison in Tehran during protests against the regime’s detention of students.
The Iranian government eventually admitted that Kazemi had been beaten, but confirmed that her death was accidental. The treating doctor, who fled to Canada, said that Kazemi showed signs of “very brutal rape, torture, and head trauma before her death.”
Under the sanctions, Canada can ban those on the sanctions list from entering the country and freeze their assets in Canada.
In this regard, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, in a press statement, “We look forward and continue to discuss all ways to ensure that the Iranian regime knows that the continuation of its reprehensible behavior is completely unacceptable.”
In addition to Talai, the new Canadian sanctions included Ali Mavardiani, a prominent judge, prosecutor and investigator, who worked in the Evin Prison Court, before he was appointed director of the Anti-Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office in Tehran, and Hassan Karami, commander of Iran’s special security units.
As well as “Safiran” for airport services, which is an Iranian airline for cargo and commercial transportation, which coordinated Russian military flights between Iran and Russia, and “Baharestan Kish” company, which is a subsidiary of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Cooperative Corporation, which concluded agreements to provide research services in the technology sector, and the agency “ Javan News, a media outlet affiliated with the Basij Cooperative Foundation, was punished for publishing anti-Semitic messages and promoting the Iranian regime.
Since last September 16, protests have continued across Iran following the death of Amini, 22, 3 days after she was arrested by the “morality police” concerned with monitoring women’s dress code.
