Iranian Canadian boxer and coach Salar Gholami says he helped co-organize the Toronto rally in solidarity with protesters in Iran on Jan. 10 to encourage people inside Iran who have been protesting against Tehran’s clerical leadership for two weeks.
Gholami told The Epoch Times that the large turnout at the rally, numbering in the tens of thousands, represented a “turning point” in the history of the Iranian diaspora.
“The beautiful, striking point was this: Everyone carried one flag—everyone carried the Lion and Sun flag. Everyone had one slogan. Everyone was united—together as one,” Gholami said, referring to Iran’s historic flag, which was replaced by the Islamic Republic after the 1979 revolution.
“Right now—whether inside Iran or outside Iran—everyone has one goal: overthrowing the Islamic Republic.”
Rallies totalling tens of thousands of protesters were held in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal, and other parts of Canada over the weekend, in solidarity with anti-regime protests that have been taking place in Iran for two weeks.
Saeid Abar, who helped organize a rally in Edmonton on Jan. 11, said it’s important for people outside of Iran to support the demonstrators as the regime crackdown against the protesters intensifies.
“The Islamic Republic regime is killing our people, so we have to support them,” Abar said in an interview.
He also spoke against those supporting the regime in Iran, including the Chinese regime.
“This is about money, oil, energy, so China is supporting [the Iranian] leaders,” he said.
‘I’m in Disbelief’
Families of the victims of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, which was shot down by two Iranian missiles minutes after taking off from Tehran in January 2020, also attended the rallies. One family member in Toronto, Alireza Ghandchi, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 10 that he feels Iranian officials will flee “very soon.”“This whole crowd, all of these people here, will gather together in celebration and joy at Shahyad Square [Azadi Square] in Tehran [when that happens],” Ghandchi said. “This is not far away, not far at all.”
Another Toronto family member, Mehrzad Zarei, told The Epoch Times that the Iranian nation has “moved past the Islamic Republic.” Zarei’s son was one of the 176 people aboard the Flight PS752 who were killed by the Iranian missiles. Among the passengers were 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents in Canada.
“Long live Iran forever!” Zarei said.
Kiumars Rezvanifar, director of KVC Communications Group, another rally attendee in Toronto, told The Epoch Times he didn’t know if he was awake or dreaming, saying he couldn’t even describe what he was feeling.
