Iranian Canadians rallied in some of Canada’s major cities over the weekend, with some expressing joy and support for the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
The strikes began on Saturday morning and targeted areas of downtown Tehran, including places associated with Iran’s leadership.
US President Donald Trump said on Satya Social that the purpose of the “massive” operation was to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, to “remove imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
For Sadie Minachi, the strikes are a positive event.
“I can’t stop being happy,” he said at a rally in Vancouver on February 28. “I cried at first, I couldn’t believe it. After 47 years I feel like the nightmare is over, almost over. We haven’t heard of the fall of the regime yet, but I’m looking forward to it.”
On Saturday afternoon, Trump said on Truth Social that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been killed in the attack. State media later confirmed his death.
Minachi has organized protests and rallies in Vancouver in recent weeks to oppose the Iranian regime, which has been cracking down on anti-government demonstrations.
Iranians fed up with corruption, economic abuses and repressive religious rules in their country have been rallying since late last year.
The Iranian government, which imposed an internet blackout, said more than 3,000 people had died since protests erupted in mid-February. But the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in counting deaths during the previous round of unrest in Iran, put the death toll at more than 7,000.
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Demonstrations have erupted in several countries, including the US and Canada.
On February 14, hundreds of thousands of people marched through Toronto, followed by similar protests in Vancouver and other cities.
On Saturday and Sunday, various rallies were held – one of celebration.
Shermineh Esmati Novak, co-organizer of Saturday’s rally in Toronto, said there was “a lot of enthusiasm.”
“It’s just a sense of, you know, we’ve accomplished something,” he told Global News. “There is an element of unity.”
Esmati Novak acknowledged that some people might find it “weird” for wanting military intervention, but “I think we’re all hoping for that to happen.”
“We really want a military invasion from the United States, because this administration is not going to let up unless you bring in real strong military power to take them out,” he said.
Ardeshir Zarezadeh, a former Iranian political prisoner who fled to Canada, said a US-Israel strike would be the best-case scenario for Iranians seeking an end to government repression and Western powers aiming to halt Iran’s nuclear program.
“If there is a free country … there will be no nuclear bomb,” Jarezadeh said. “It’s beneficial for everyone in the Middle East and certainly for international peace.”
Zarezadeh, now president of the Toronto-based International Center for Human Rights, called the killing of protesters in Iran a “crime against humanity” and said the international community had a duty to step in.
But some Iranian Canadians are concerned that actions by the US and Israel could mean the end of the Iranian regime.
“Interventions do not work in favor of Iranian national sovereignty when they come from foreign governments,” said Mona Ghassemi, president of the Iranian Canadian Congress.
Ghassemi noted that the president is still alive and with the Provisional Council, the current government has not yet fallen, but he is not sure what will happen if the regime falls.
“If that government falls, I’m concerned about what happens in its place with these foreign interventions, because what the United States and Israel want is a government that submits to their demands,” he said.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezheshkian said in a pre-recorded message that the new leadership council had “started its work” to find a new leader.
Esmati Novak told Global News that Iranian Canadians have little concern left for their loved ones at home. Yet Ali Hassan Abadi, who attended Saturday’s rally in Toronto, said he believes that can change.
“When we first heard the news, we were excited, we were shocked, we celebrated,” he said. “We think the fear is over, the fear is gone too soon.”
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
(tags to translate)Iran
