Iran sanctions: four people, two entities

Summary#

The Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations add four individuals and two entities to Canada’s Iran sanctions list. These final amendments came into force on October 28, 2022 and prohibit many kinds of financial or commercial dealings with the newly listed people and organisations.

What it does#

• Adds these two entities to the list:
  • Al‑Mustafa International University
  • The Law Enforcement Forces (LEF)
• Adds these four individuals to the list:
  • Seyed Morteza Mousavi
  • Asadollah Jafari
  • Ahmad Fazelian
  • Hossein Rahimi (born in 1964)
• Creates a broad ban on dealings with those listed. That means people and businesses in Canada, and Canadians abroad, are generally prohibited from:
  • dealing in the property of listed persons or entities;
  • entering into transactions with them;
  • providing them with services or making goods available to them.
• The named persons and entities are added to Schedule 1 of the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations, under the Special Economic Measures Act.

Who's affected#

• The six newly listed people and organisations themselves.
• Canadians, Canadian companies and anyone in Canada who might have had business, financial, or service ties with those listed.
• Financial institutions, which must screen for and block prohibited transactions and may add the new names to monitoring systems.
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Canada Border Services Agency, which have roles in enforcing the rules.
• It is unclear from the notice how many or which Canadian businesses actually had ties to these specific listed parties; the government says those linkages are likely limited.

Why it matters#

• The listing freezes the target’s ability to use Canadian financial channels and stops most business and service links with them. That can mean frozen accounts, blocked payments, and halted contracts.
• This is part of Canada’s response to what it describes as gross and systematic human rights violations in Iran, including actions that followed the death of Mahsa Amini and the crackdown on protests.
• The measure aims to increase pressure on Iran and to align Canada with sanctions taken by allies.
• For Canadians, the practical effects are mostly on banks and businesses that must ensure they do not deal with the listed names. Penalties for knowingly breaking the sanctions include a fine of up to $25,000, or imprisonment for up to one year on summary conviction, or up to five years on indictment.