Mohammad-Hasan Ruzitalyab, director general of Iran newspaper and cultural and journalistic organization, said that the West is using the media and sanctions as a weapon against Russia and Iran, RIA Novosti reported.

“The fact is that the West, in addition to developing its weapons and defense potential, uses the media as a weapon against its opponents. When these weapons are ineffective, he imposes sanctions and prohibitions on other states so that they do not have the opportunity to express their opinions and views,” Ruzitalyab said.

He noted that the closure of Sputnik offices and editorial offices and the entire Rossiya Segodnya media group in Canada, as well as other NATO and EU countries, are the same political steps as the restrictions against the Iran newspaper earlier.

Earlier, Canada imposed sanctions against 38 individuals and 16 legal entities from Russia.

Mikhail Boyarsky, Nikolai Baskov, Nikolai Rastorguev, Oleg Gazmanov, Polina Gagarina and other artists were blacklisted. The media group Rossiya Segodnya, the RIA Novosti agency, and some organizations "associated with businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin" were also sanctioned.