Canada Reimposes Sanctions on 11 Iranian Entities — Anand Announces Crackdown at G7 Meeting in Paris

Photo: U.S. Department of State, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — Foreign Minister Anita Anand meets U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, August 21, 2025 (file photo).

Anita Anand picked a room full of allies to deliver the message. Standing in Paris on Tuesday, with foreign ministers from the G7 gathered around the table, Canada's foreign minister announced that Ottawa is putting 11 Iranian entities back on its sanctions list — ten years after Canada took them off.

The move, announced on November 10 under the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations, targets the money and material behind Iran's nuclear and missile programs. According to Global Affairs Canada, the 11 contributed to “the Iranian regime's proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities and ballistic missile program or to the financing of its malign activities.”

The 11 names on Canada's list

The list breaks into three groups. On the nuclear side sit the Nuclear Fuel Production and Procurement Company and the Nuclear Reactors Fuel Company. The oil and shipping names are the National Iranian Oil Company, the National Iranian Tanker Company, Kala Naft and the Naftiran Intertrade Company. And the financial names are Bank Mellat, Bank Melli Iran, the Bank of Industry and Mine, the Export Development Bank of Iran and the Iran Insurance Company.

Why Canada took them off the list in 2016

The story starts in the summer of 2015, when China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, together with the European Union, struck the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran. The trade was simple: Iran would accept limits and inspections to prove its nuclear program was peaceful, and the world would lift sanctions in return.

In January 2016, the IAEA reported that Iran had allowed verification and restricted its program in line with the deal. Canada eased its sanctions the following month, in step with its partners, and the 11 entities came off the list. That was the high-water mark. It did not last.

The road from snapback to Paris

The years since have been a slow unravelling. Iran scaled back cooperation with the IAEA, and in June 2025 the agency's Board of Governors formally found Tehran was not complying with its safeguards obligations. Two months later, France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered the deal's “snapback” mechanism, citing Iran's highly enriched uranium production and its refusal to cooperate with inspectors. In September 2025, UN sanctions were reinstated, and Canada amended its own regulations the same month.

The G7 added its voice in June 2026, reaffirming that Iran must not develop or acquire a nuclear weapon. And the backdrop has grown darker still: according to Reuters, the United States has been at war with Iran since joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on February 28. Just last week, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned eight Canadian money-exchange businesses it accused of helping Iranian entities dodge sanctions — a crackdown Ottawa's move now joins from the Canadian side.

Anand left no doubt about where Canada stands. “Canada's position is unequivocal: Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon,” she said in Paris. “We will continue to work with our G7 partners and the broader international community toward a comprehensive, verifiable and durable agreement that addresses Iran's nuclear program and strengthens regional and international security.”

What the sanctions actually do

Being put back on the list means dealings with these entities are once again prohibited under Canadian law. The aim, as Global Affairs Canada put it, is to choke off Tehran's access to sensitive technology and funding. They land as a coordinated push with allies — the announcement was timed to the G7 meeting for exactly that reason.

What happens next depends largely on Tehran. Canada and its partners are pressing Iran to comply with its obligations, resume full cooperation with the IAEA without delay, and return to negotiations. If Iran does, the sanctions lever can be eased again, as it was in 2016. If it does not, the pressure will keep building — and enforcement will matter as much as announcements. Last week's money-exchange case showed how evasion runs through Canadian businesses, and FINTRAC says it has revoked 161 money-services-business registrations in 2026, more than in the previous three years combined.

For Canadians, the story is worth watching for a second reason. This is the Carney government's foreign policy in action: a bet that middle-power muscle, applied in lockstep with the G7, can still move a file as stubborn as Iran's nuclear program. Ten years ago, the same bet produced a deal. Today, it has produced a sanctions list. Whether the list leads back to a table, or just to more pressure, is the question the next few months will answer.

Related coverage: the U.S. sanctions on eight Canadian money-exchange businesses accused of helping Iranian entities evade restrictions (NewsX)

Sources

• Global Affairs Canada — Minister Anand announces reimposition of sanctions against Iranian entities (November 10, 2026)
• Government of Canada — Canada reimposes sanctions against 11 Iranian entities (backgrounder)
• Reuters — Canada reimposes sanctions on 11 Iranian entities for contributing to nuclear activities (November 10, 2026)
• Dow Jones via Morningstar — Canada Reimposes Sanctions Against 11 Iranian Entities (November 10, 2026)
• SRN News — Canada reimposes sanctions on 11 Iranian entities for contributing to nuclear activities (November 10, 2026)