Iranians rallying in Ottawa for freedom from Islamic Republic

Iranians in Ottawa rallied on Parliament Hill Sunday to voice their concerns about deadly violence and news blackouts in Iran. CTV’s Camille Wilson reports.

The Iranian-Canadian community is holding a peaceful rally on Parliament Hill Sunday in solidarity with the revolution in Iran.

Organized by the Ottawa Rise IRAN Community Team, the demonstration is voicing support for the people of Iran who are fighting for freedom from the Islamic Republic.

“Protesters in Ottawa will urge the Canadian government to move beyond words and take concrete steps to support the Iranian people’s fight for democracy,” organizers of Sunday’s rally said in a news release.

Rallies have been held across Canada this weekend, drawing hundreds in cities like Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Protests in Iran began on Dec. 28 and have led to more than 500 deaths and thousands of people being detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The protests initially began over the country’s faltering economy but have grown to challenge the theocratic government as a whole.

Iranians living in Ottawa are demanding the Canadian government stand with the Iranian people to defeat the Islamic Republic, supress the regime, and open negotiation conversations with opposition leader, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, about the people’s transition to democracy.

“We together with the Iranian people, inside Iran, we want our politicians to recognize Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi as a leader and provide supports by giving maximum pressure on the regime and maximum support to the people of Iran, to help them to get rid of this, regime, because people want to install a democratic and secular government, chosen by the votes of people. This is all they want,” said Soorena, an Iranian living in Canada.

“First of all, this is my human responsibility, and as an Iranian. This is my duty to support the Iranian people. Here I am, living in Canada, enjoying the freedom of speech, enjoying a democratic government and I think to myself, why shouldn’t my people inside Iran have the same type of government? They deserve this. People should be given this chance to reclaim their country, reclaim their identity and enjoy a life under a democratic and a secular government.”

Some people travelled from Montreal for the protest on Parliament Hill, like Sharif Naemi.

“This is four days that I haven’t talked to my parents and my family in Iran because everything is shut down,” Naemi said.

“They want to stay, they want to keep the regime because of their profit, not the profit out the country. That’s the reason that we are here.”

The communications blackout in Iran is particularly worrying for people who have family and friends in the country.

“It’s over four days that there is no internet. There is no phone line. Everything is shut down. Because we have a government who kills their own people,” said Leila, an Iranian living in Canada. “This government is an Islamic regime who doesn’t care about the basic human rights of the people. We are here just to be the voice of people who are taken hostage inside the country and they are demanding their own basic human rights.”

With files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press.

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