{"id":405913,"date":"2026-01-13T05:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T05:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/405913\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T05:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T05:12:21","slug":"rallies-held-in-the-gta-on-sunday-in-support-of-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/405913\/","title":{"rendered":"Rallies held in the GTA on Sunday in support of Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

Members of Toronto\u2019s Iranian community are rallying in the GTA, distraught by the unrest in Iran and being cut-off from loved ones due to internet blackouts. <\/p>\n

Hundreds, if not thousands, of members of the Iranian-Canadian community in the Greater Toronto Area along with supporters rallied on Sunday in a show of support for their loved ones back home. <\/p>\n

In late December, those opposing the country\u2019s long-standing, oppressive Islamic regime began protesting across Iran, which is also facing a severe economic crisis. <\/p>\n

The protests, which are now entering their third week, have intensified as the country\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei began imposing internet and telecom blackouts on Thursday. <\/p>\n

Very minimal news, mostly video footage, from Iran is being disseminated via Starlink satellite.<\/p>\n

So far, at least 72 people have been killed and more than 2,300 others have been detained as a result of the increasing unrest, says U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.<\/p>\n

\"\"Iran Mel Lastman rally Jan. 11 A woman chants ‘They are terrorists. They must go.’ during a Jan. 11 rally for the people of Iran at Mel Lastman Square. <\/p>\n

On Sunday morning, rallies were held in North York, with dozens of people, many distraught and tearful, coming together to show their support and express their concern for their family members and friends back home.<\/p>\n

Toronto community protests in support of Iran as internet blackout continues Demonstrators in Toronto are sharing concerns about their friends and family in Iran as the regime continues to censor communications. Rahim Ladhani reports. <\/p>\n

\u201cHistory shows that when they cut off the internet they start killing the innocent people to avoid getting the news from the other countries in Iran,\u201d said one man at a rally in Toronto\u2019s Little Iran neighbourhood, near Yonge Street and Finch Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all gathered here to be the voice of Iran because the regime is killing people in our country. We are here to be their voice,\u201d added a woman also rallying along Yonge. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no idea what\u2019s happening in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Iran rally North York People on Yonge Street in North York on Jan. 11 in support of the people of Iran. <\/p>\n

CP24 spoke with several people from the Iranian diaspora on Sunday, all of whom said they haven\u2019t heard from their family members in several days and are very worried about them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just resonating the voice of Iranian people, who want freedom and democracy,\u201d said an Iranian demonstrator named Malika at Mel Lastman Square, who has several family members in Tehran.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the internet blackout we have no news actually. It\u2019s been a few days (that) I have no news of my family members. It\u2019s very hard. People are suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"NPS rally Iran Jan. 11 A large rally for the poeple of Iran took place at Nathan Phillips Square on jan. 11. <\/p>\n

At 3 p.m., a huge crowd began assembling for another rally for the people of Iran at Nathan Phillips Square in downtown Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people here take for granted is this: Our right to free speech, our right to peaceful assembly. \u2026Where I was born in Iran you cannot do this without extreme danger and (the) possibility of being killed,\u201d another demonstrator, who is a lawyer, told CP24.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, the Islamic regime is using live ammunition against protesters. They\u2019ve cut off the internet for almost the past three days. We have some video coming through Starlink that show record numbers of people being killed, but also the message that we get is that people\u2019s resolve has not changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"MPP Parsa at NPS Iran rally Jan. 11 Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MPP Michael Parsa speaks to CP24 during a Jan. 11 rally for Iran at Nathan Phillips Square. <\/p>\n

Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MPP Michael Parsa, Ontario\u2019s Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, attended the rally ouside Toronto City Hall. <\/p>\n

Parsa, who was born in Iran and came to Canada as a child, said the Islamic regime in his homeland has a \u201cpattern of oppressing people\u201d once it feels pressure, one example of that is cutting off the internet and communications \u201csilencing people\u2019s voice even more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 47 years they\u2019ve done this and this is why, as you can see, tens of thousands of people have gathered, united against this oppressive regime to act and to stand in solidarity with the Iranian people so that they can get their country back, a democratic country and get rid of this government, this regime once and for all,\u201d Parsa said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here as a citizen, united, hand and hand, shoulder to shoulder, with everyone here, waiting for that day. \u2026 We want the people in Iran to know that we hear them, we can see them, and we know what they\u2019re asking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parsa said the restoring the rights of women in Iran is especially top of mind after decades of oppression.<\/p>\n

A rally in support of Iran\u2019s freedom also took place at Sankofa Square, near Yonge and Dundas streets in downtown Toronto, on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Rallies also held in the GTA on Saturday<\/p>\n

Yesterday, CP24\u2019s cameras were at another large demonstration at Mel Lastman Square in support of freedom, accountability, and democracy in Iran. <\/p>\n

A massive demonstration was also held on Saturday in Richmond Hill, which is also home to a significant Iranian population. <\/p>\n

On Friday, Australia, Canada, and the European Union\u2019s foreign ministers issued a joint statement condemning the recent violence against the Iranian people. <\/p>\n

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has responded to the reports of violence, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation by the Iranian regime, urging it to ensure freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear of reprisal.<\/p>\n

U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has threatened to intervene in the situation if protesters continue to be killed in Iran.<\/p>\n

With files from CP24\u2019s Phil Perkins and CTV News Toronto\u2019s Rahim Ladhani<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of Toronto\u2019s Iranian community are rallying in the GTA, distraught by the unrest in Iran and being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[712,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-405913","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}