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The Iranian-born wife of Defence Minister Peter MacKay says she is shocked at TD Canada Trust’s decision to close a number of accounts belonging to Iranian Canadians without offering them a proper explanation.

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TD (TSX:TD) began notifying Iranian-Canadian clients in May that it would no longer provide them with banking services — in some cases referring to Ottawa’s economic sanctions against the Tehran regime.

Nazanin Afshin-Jam, a dedicated human rights activist, says she believes the bank “unintentionally misinterpreted” the broad application of the sanctions, aimed at cracking down on Iran’s nuclear program.

“I think they should have done more investigation rather than harming innocent Iranian Canadians,” she said in an interview from her home in New Glasgow, N.S.

Members of the Iranian-Canadian community have expressed outrage at the bank’s decision, saying they feel they’re being treated as second-class citizens.