Canada Restores Sanctions on 11 Iranian Entities

Canada's foreign ministry unveiled the sanctions alongside the G7 gathering in Paris, describing them as a step aimed at disrupting Iranian financial networks that support the country's nuclear program. The 11 entities had all been taken off Canada's sanctions list in 2016, after international inspectors said Iran had moved toward fulfilling its obligations under the 2015 nuclear agreement. Those entities are the Nuclear Fuel Production and Procurement Company; Nuclear Reactors Fuel Company; Kala Naft; Naftiran Intertrade Company; National Iranian Oil Company; National Iranian Tanker Company; Bank Mellat; Bank Melli Iran; Bank of Industry and Mine; Export Development Bank of Iran; and Iran Insurance Company. The restrictions were restored through Canada's Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations. Ottawa said the step would tighten limits on Iran's access to sensitive technology and funding. Under the regulations, people in Canada and Canadian citizens abroad are barred from specified financial or property dealings with listed individuals and entities. Canada initially introduced sanctions under those rules in July 2010, acting with partners that included the United States and the European Union, and pointing to Iran's failure to satisfy its international nuclear obligations. As a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Iran is required not to develop or obtain nuclear weapons. In July 2015, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with the European Union, concluded the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. The deal, endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, placed limits on Iran's nuclear program and broadened International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verification, including through the Additional Protocol, in return for sanctions relief. In January 2016, the IAEA reported that Iran had permitted verification work and taken steps to constrain its nuclear program under the agreement. The next month, Canada eased its own sanctions in coordination with international partners and removed the 11 entities from its list. In June 2025, the IAEA Board of Governors determined that Iran was not meeting its safeguards obligations and urged Tehran to cooperate fully with inspectors. A month later, following Israeli and US attacks on Iran, Tehran halted cooperation with the agency, further reducing its ability to monitor and verify nuclear activities. In August 2025, France, Germany and the UK triggered the agreement's 'snapback' mechanism, citing Iran's production of highly enriched uranium and inadequate cooperation with the IAEA. That action resulted in the return of UN nuclear-related sanctions in September. Canada changed its separate regulations implementing UN resolutions on Iran that month to implement those measures. In June 2026, the G7 restated that Iran must not develop or acquire a nuclear weapon and urged limits on uranium enrichment and effective IAEA verification.