A Canadian citizen has been killed in Iran amid widespread protests across the country, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand.
“A Canadian citizen has died in Iran at the hands of the Iranian authorities. Our consular officials are in contact with the victim’s family in Canada and my deepest condolences are with them at this time,” Anand said in a statement on X on Jan. 15.
Anand said that Iranian citizens have been peacefully protesting in response to the Iranian regime’s “repression and ongoing human rights violations,” and the violence against protesters must end.
“Canada condemns and calls for an immediate end to the Iranian regime’s violence,” she added.
In recent weeks, Iranian citizens have staged widespread protests across the country against the ruling Islamic Republic and its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran has cracked down on the protesters, with the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency estimating at least 2,435 protesters and 153 members of Iran’s security forces have been killed during demonstrations as of Jan. 14.
Global Affairs said in a statement to The Epoch Times that Iranian authorities have engaged in violence, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation of protesters. “Canada strongly condemns the horrific killing of protesters in Iran,” the agency said.
Global Affairs said as of Jan. 15, there were 3,133 Canadians and permanent residents registered as being in Iran. It said Canadians in Iran should leave the country if it is safe to do so, including by crossing the land border into Armenia and Türkiye given that many airlines have suspended flights to and from Iran.
The G7 said in a Jan. 14 statement that it was “deeply alarmed” by the reports of deaths and injuries in Iran amid the protests, and the G7 countries were prepared to impose “additional restrictive measures if Iran continues to crack down on protests and dissent.”
Iranian demonstrators gather in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in Iran following the outbreak of the protests, posting on Truth Social earlier this week: “Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price.”
In the post, he announced the cancellation of all talks with Iranian officials and assured the protesters that “help” was on the way.
Trump told reporters on Jan. 14, however, that he had been told the “killing in Iran is stopping” and that the scheduled execution of some protesters had been cancelled. When asked by a reporter whether the update means that the United States is taking military action “off the table,” Trump said that the U.S. would “watch and see what the process is.”
The U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities of Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan on June 22, 2025, with Iran responding by firing missiles at a U.S. military base in Qatar, which did not result in any injuries or deaths. While Trump said the attack “obliterated” the nuclear sites and that Iran would “never” rebuild them, Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami said arrangements had been made for the restoration of the country’s nuclear industry.
