Canada Sanctions Iran Morality Police Officers, Prison, and Drone Company

Members of the Iranian community and their supporters rally in solidarity with protesters in Iran, after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody for allegedly improperly wearing a hijab, in Ottawa on Sept. 25, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

Canada has slapped fresh sanctions on Iranian officials whom Ottawa blames for the arrest of Mahsa Amini, whose death sparked widespread anti-regime protests last September.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has announced a travel ban and asset freeze on nine people and one prison for “gross and systematic human rights violations.”

The list includes four members of the so-called morality police whom Canada accuses of being in the squadron that arrested Amini on the grounds of not properly wearing a hijab.

It also includes a regional head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for areas where that military group has violently suppressed protests, called Sistan and Baluchestan.

Canada’s eleventh round of sanctions on Iran since last fall also includes the Gohardasht Prison, a notorious jail west of Tehran also known as Rajaei Shahr, where the state has executed people.

The sanctions also include the senior leadership of the drone company Paravar Pars, which has allegedly sent weapons to help Russia’s invasion of Ukraine