Carney must hit Iran’s Ayatollah with sanctions and legal action, human rights advocates say

Shilan Mirzaee holds up a photo of Mahshad Keshani and Alireza Sepahi during a press conference in Ottawa on Oct. 7, 2026. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK /Postmedia

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OTTAWA — The Carney government should directly target Iran’s leader and his allies with sanctions and legal action to close the “impunity gap” and to ensure that this country doesn’t become a safe haven for repression, a coalition of human rights groups and an all-party group of MPs insisted Wednesday.

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Speaking on Parliament Hill on the third anniversary of the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel that killed an estimated 1,200 people, the human rights advocates warned that more atrocities in Iran are likely if democratic governments don’t do more to limit the Iranian government’s power.

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Irwin Cotler, a former Liberal MP and cabinet minister and now an advocate, told reporters that it’s a critical moment in the battle between human rights and the government of Iran. The government killed an estimated 40,000 protesters and critics over two days in January and has since followed with repressive techniques such as controlling mass communications and detentions, disappearances, torture, rape and more executions.

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Cotler, who also faced an Iranian assassination plot for his efforts to call out the regime, said the Iranian regime’s repression tactics extend to other countries, including Canada.

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Shilan Mirzaee, a democracy advocate and former political prisoner, held up a photo at the press conference of a young couple who were arrested a month ago, just a couple of days before they were to be married. He was then executed while she remains in prison.

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Despite the U.S.-led attacks on Iran over the last seven months, that country is still governed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Canada does not have diplomatic relations with Iran and Ottawa has designated its government a supporter of terrorism.

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After tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets earlier this year to protest soaring prices and a weak economy, government soldiers opened fire after demonstrators called for regime change. A widespread brutal crackdown ensued.

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Less than two months later, the United States and Israel began large-scale strikes on Iranian facilities, reportedly out of concern about the advance of Iran’s efforts to build nuclear weapons. The early attacks in February killed the previous supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, the current leader’s father, who had ruled since 1989.

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The attacks and the war, which have led to oil supply problems and rising prices, have not ended.

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The advocates in Ottawa, which included the Iranian Justice Collective and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, also released a report Wednesday with 12 steps that Canada should take to counter the Iranian regime and stand up for human rights.

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Beyond sanctioning the leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, and other senior members of the government, the list includes:

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