Latest news with #IranianCanadian
CTV News
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Toronto's vibrant Pride parade to cap off weekend of celebrations, marches
Iranian-Canadian solo dance artist Artin Avaznia performs at Toronto's 2024 Pride festival. Avaznia is an Ottawa-born Iranian Canadian and is performing at Toronto Pride for the second year in a row this weekend. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Nautica Simone, (Mandatory Credit)
National Post
26-06-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Iran regime change the only path forward, Iranian-Canadians say
OTTAWA — Despite enduring institutionally enforced hatred against both Israel and the United States, everyday Iranians aren't directing anger over weeks of airstrikes targeting Iran's nuclear ambitions at them. Article content 'I've never heard anyone say, 'Why is Israel doing this,'' Iranian-Canadian Maral told the Toronto Sun. Article content 'Everyone was saying, 'This is this regime, they are the root cause of this. They put us in this situation.'' Article content Article content Maral, her identity concealed over fears of reprisals to her and her family, offered an unflinching view of life in Iran, and why Iranians believe the best way forward is to overthrow the Ayatollah Khamenei's despotic dictatorship. Article content Article content 'Every day for school, even in elementary school, there are flags of the U.S. and Israel on the floor — (students) have to walk over the flags to start our morning,' she said. Article content That, along with official regime slogans calling for the death of America, Israel and the 'three corruptors' — former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and former Israeli PM Menachem Begin — are seeing quiet but conspicuous resistance. Article content Students at universities in Tehran are going out of their way to not tread on the flags, a small but sure sign of growing resistance to Iran's brutal theocracy and a growing desire for regime change. Article content Few understand what living in Iran is like better than Iranians, who saw their once-promising beacon of democracy and prosperity transformed into an Islamofascist dystopia. Article content Article content 'Economically, this is a country that, 40 years ago, was one of the fastest-developing countries in the world,' said Kaveh Shahrooz, a lawyer, activist and Macdonald-Laurier Institute Fellow. Article content Article content 'Since the revolution, it's become one of the most stagnant economies in the world — thanks to corruption and mismanagement, but also the incredible international isolation as a result of the regime's foolish international policies, sponsorship of terrorism and pursuit of nuclear weapons.' Article content 'If you're a young person you have no hopes for the future, because the economy is in shambles and the regime prevents you from doing all the normal things that teenagers do,' he said, describing bans on public displays of affection, drinking alcohol or even listening to music.
CTV News
16-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Canadian families with ties to Iran and Israel gripped by fear as tensions escalate
Maritimers with ties to the Middle East – watch anxiously as the conflict unfolds. As tensions between Iran and Israel continue to intensify, some Canadians are living in limbo as they watch missiles fly over the countries their loved ones still call home. An Iranian-Canadian woman who has asked not to be identified out of fear for her family's safety says her husband and son were planning to return to Canada on Thursday. Instead, they are stuck in Iran after their flights were cancelled. 'They were supposed to come back two weeks ago but then had to stay longer for family reasons. Now I don't know what they are doing to do,' she said. 'Now we don't know when we can see each other. We don't know when we can, we don't know what's going on, we don't even know what's going to happen in one hour. It's a very heartbreaking feeling.' She keeps her phone close and her TV on throughout the day. She has not slept in days and feels restless. 'I cannot eat, I cannot drink, I cannot breathe. The feeling is killing me,' she said. As her son tries to figure out a way to cross the border of Iran to surrounding countries, she tries to remain hopeful and prays for her family and friend's safety. 'They have the Canadian passport but there is no option for Iran to support the Canadians that are there. So they are trying to find a way by bus, by foot, whatever is possible,' she said. 'The distance, with the lack of communication and internet, everything is affected.' She said her son has described the situation as difficult and unimaginable. 'He said you cannot imagine how many people are under stress. People aren't aware when there will be an attack,' she said. Other relatives living east of Tehran, Iran's capital, have suffered damages to their own home from missiles hitting a neighbour's home. 'They have a two-year baby boy and for the last four nights they are on the streets. Their home is completely destroyed and they have no where they can go,' the woman said. 'This is war between the government but who is really impacted? It's the people. We are hoping the international leaders will push them to stop this war.' Home damaged An Iranian home was damaged in a recent missile strike. (Submitted) For Shimon Walt, an Israeli-Canadian who immigrated to Canada from Israel years ago, said the recent surge in violence has left him struggling to focus on anything else. 'I worry about them. I worry about my 96-year-old mom not being able to go down to the shelter. It's three flights of stairs so she sits on the staircase. It's hard,' he said. Walt speaks to his family daily, and their conversations revolve around being grateful to survive. 'We take it one minute at a time,' said Walt. Israel is home for Walt. It is where he was educated, where many of his friends live, and the place his father is buried. Walt had plans to go to Israel and take care of his mother but those plans changed. 'I was supposed to visit my mom, who was not well for a while. If I would've gone, I'd be there right now [and] I wouldn't be able to get out. I don't know what's for the best, maybe I should've been there,' he said. Walt's wife, who has frequently visited Israel along with her husband, said she wants to see peace, especially for her mother-in-law who survived the Holocaust. 'She calls herself a girl from war. I think of that all the time. At 96 you should have some peace,' she said. The conflict has entered its fourth day, with both countries trading missile attacks despite calls for a halt to the fighting. Israel launched the first strike, attacking Iran's oil refineries, killing the intelligence chief of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and hitting population centers in intensive aerial attacks that raised the death told in the country to 224 people, according to Iran. Israel, which has aimed its missiles at Iran's advancing nuclear program and military leaderships, said Iran has fired more than 270 missiles since Friday, 22 of which slipped through the country's sophisticated multi-tiered air defenses, killing 14 people. Both Walt and the Iranian-Canadian woman say they long not just for the safety of their families but for peace in the region.
