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Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa on Saturday to call for continued military pressure in Iran.
Many of the people at Saturday’s rally said they’re hoping to amplify the voices of people inside the country, where communication has been restricted for weeks.
“Today is the 43rd day that Iranian people are under the Internet blackout,” said Soorena Noori, co-founder of Iran Revival Hub, an organization focused on “the reconstruction of Iran after the Islamic Republic,” according to its website.
Noori said that blackout has meant extremely limited contact with his family back in Iran. He described a recent call with his parents that lasted only minutes.
“We cannot contact them from outside. It’s only one way from inside,” he said.
Soorena Noori, co-founder of the Iran Revival Hub, says it’s been incredibly difficult to stay in touch with his family in Iran. (Cameron Mahler/CBC)
For Behrooz Sharif Naeini, who also has family in Iran, the cutoff is deeply personal.
“It’s more than a month now that I don’t have any contact with them,” he said. “It’s not even one second that I’m not thinking of them. I am eating, I’m thinking. I am sleeping, I’m thinking.”
Naeini said he hopes U.S.-Iran talks result in the emergence of a new political system.
“We want to get back our country, to have our civilization, our culture and our own government,” he said.
‘Nothing goes back to normal’
Saturday marks the first day of face-to-face talks between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan.
Since the war began on Feb. 28, at least 3,000 people in Iran have died, along with 2,020 people in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states.
The war has also largely cut off the Persian Gulf from the global economy, sending energy prices soaring.
The talks between the warring countries had some demonstrators in Ottawa Saturday hoping the outcome doesn’t leave the Iranian people behind.
“What people inside Iran are demanding … is that the job that has been started by the U.S. and Israel should not be left in the middle and undone,” Noori said.
Negar Movahedi says the only hope for a free Iran is through copntinued U.S. intervention. (Cameron Mahler/CBC)
Demonstrators like Negar Movahedi are concerned international talks could result in a deal that leaves Iran’s current leadership in place.
“Even if they get to a deal … nothing goes back to normal,” said Movahedi, who has extended family in Iran. “They’re executing people. They shut down the Internet.”
Movahedi said she believes outside support is critical, particularly from the United States.
“At this moment, I think our only hope to a free country is the help of U.S.,” she said.