Calls for international intervention in Iran could be heard from Edmonton on Saturday as the city’s Iranian diaspora gathered to support those killed during protests for regime change in their home country. Iranian-Canadians were at the steps of the Alberta legislature around 1:30 p.m. for a rally and moment of silence organized by the Iranian Heritage Society of Edmonton in solidarity with what organizers say is a massacre in the country. “We call on the Government of Canada to take leadership in a co-ordinated international effort to apply effective pressure on the Iranian government, with the urgent aim of halting the killings of civilians,” was part of a statement read aloud to the group on Saturday. Mass protests in Iran began at the end of December, first sparked by rising prices and later morphing into challenges against the country’s theocratic government. Iranian clerics in turn cracked down on those protests, resulting in a still-rising death toll and what appears to be an ongoing internet shutdown. As of Friday, the number of protester deaths has reached more than 3,000 – the most deaths of any protest or unrest in Iran in decades, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. Although there have been no signs of protests in Iran’s capital, Tehran, in days, rally organizer Payman Parseyan says demonstrations in Edmonton will continue until there is stability in Iran. “Aside from freedom, the human rights and supporting your neighbours, we have families in Iran, some of them we haven’t been able to talk to in nearly two weeks,” Parseyan said. “We have the right to be here, to assemble, you know, freedom of expression. But they don’t enjoy these rights overseas … it’s our duty to make sure that they also get to enjoy the same liberties that we have access to from here.” He said the Iranian community in Edmonton was calling for the Canadian government to assist their community in “recognizing real opposition movement,” referring to calls for Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi to return to power. “It’s contingent upon foreign governments … to recognize him as the real opposition leader to this movement.” The Iranian communities in Edmonton join the wave of demonstrations across Canada calling for change. “Previous uprisings, people showed their discontent with the government, but there was no viable solution at the end of that tunnel, so they would eventually die out,” Parseyan said. “But today is different. “We all have a duty as a member of the Iranian-Canadian community to be a voice for the people that are still in Iran.” With files from The Associated Press
