Canada has reimposed sanctions on 11 Iranian entities over their links to Iran’s nuclear activities and ballistic missile programme, Foreign Minister Anita Anand announced on Tuesday, 10 November 2026.

Anand announced the measures at a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers in Paris, saying they were intended to restrict Iran’s access to funding and sensitive technology linked to its nuclear and missile programmes.

The sanctions were imposed under Canada’s Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations on entities that, in the words of the Canadian government, contributed to “the Iranian regime’s proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities and ballistic missile program or to the financing of its malign activities”.

Who is on the list?

The 11 entities named by Ottawa span Iran’s nuclear, energy, banking and insurance sectors. They are the Nuclear Fuel Production and Procurement Company, the Nuclear Reactors Fuel Company, Kala Naft, the Naftiran Intertrade Company, the National Iranian Oil Company, the National Iranian Tanker Company, Bank Mellat, Bank Melli Iran, the Bank of Industry and Mine, the Export Development Bank of Iran and the Iran Insurance Company.

Global Affairs Canada said the measures would further restrict Iran’s access to sensitive technologies and sources of funding, and described them as part of efforts with like-minded partners to disrupt financial networks supporting Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Sanctions restored after a decade off the list

Canada first removed the 11 entities from its sanctions list in 2016, after the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), came into force. At the time, Ottawa said the decision recognised Iran’s progress under the deal, which was designed to ensure the country’s nuclear programme remained exclusively peaceful.

Since then, Canada says Iran has repeatedly failed to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog, and has not complied with earlier United Nations Security Council resolutions on its nuclear activities. United Nations sanctions on Iran were reinstated in September 2025, and Canada amended its own regulations the same month to implement them.

“Canada’s position is unequivocal: Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon,” Anand said in a statement issued by Global Affairs Canada. “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.”

Wider tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme

The United States, its European allies and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear programme to conceal efforts to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its programme is for peaceful purposes only.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of the war between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other, which began with joint US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran on 28 February 2026. An Iranian official told Reuters last week that Tehran had submitted a proposal on nuclear issues to the United States through Qatar, but that discussions would depend on Washington first meeting a set of Iranian demands, including sanctions relief, access to frozen assets and war reparations. Washington says nuclear issues must feature in any initial talks.

Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, said in October that Tehran was debating whether to lift its longstanding ban on nuclear weapons if hostilities resume, although he said no such decision had been taken.

Ottawa said the announcement, made alongside the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Paris, reinforced Canada’s efforts with its partners to press Iran to comply with its international obligations, resume full cooperation with the IAEA without delay and return to negotiations.

Sources: Reuters and Global Affairs Canada.