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<\/p>\nThey gathered in their thousands, hopeful of a freer, more prosperous future for Iran.<\/p>\n
After U.S. and Israeli missiles rocked Tehran early Saturday morning \u2014 and then Tehran answering with missile strikes of its own, targeting Israel and U.S. allies across the Gulf \u2014 members of Montreal\u2019s large Iranian diaspora stood alongside other supporters in downtown Montreal, dancing, embracing and chanting for the end of the Islamic Republic that has ruled since 1979.<\/p>\n
The march stretched several hundred metres through the city\u2019s core. Some waved Iran\u2019s pre-revolutionary flag, the lion and sun emblem long associated with opposition to the regime. Others carried Canadian, Quebec and U.S. flags, along with handmade posters of Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran\u2019s last shah and a prominent opposition figure abroad.<\/p>\n
One woman, an Iranian artist who fled the country two decades ago and spoke confidentially to The Gazette, said she is hopeful of change.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a criminal regime which has been there since 1979,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are not a government for the people of Iran or for the interests of the people of Iran. They have killed people who wanted freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
What would regime change mean in practice? \u201cIt means freedom,\u201d she said. \u201cIt means prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Iranian-Montrealers in a march in downtown Montreal on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, react to reports Iran\u2019s Ayatollah Khamenei has been killed after a U.S.-Israeli attack.<\/p>\n
Earlier in January, thousands marched after unrest inside Iran, ignited in late December by anger among Tehran shopkeepers over the collapsing currency. This fanned into nationwide protests.<\/p>\n
The U.S. and Iran have since been locked in negotiations over Tehran\u2019s nuclear program, with Washington seeking to curb Iran\u2019s ability to acquire a nuclear weapon, a long-standing U.S goal.<\/p>\n
But those talks were overtaken on Saturday as U.S. and Israeli forces struck what officials described as Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure. More than 200 people across Iran were killed, according to the Red Crescent.<\/p>\n
In a post on social media, President Donald Trump said Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been killed in the operation, though Iranian officials have so far denied this.<\/p>\n
\u201cKhamenei, one of the most evil people in history, is dead,\u201d Trump wrote. \u201cThis is not only justice for the people of Iran, but for all great Americans, and those people from many countries throughout the world, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty thugs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their country,\u201d he wrote, adding some members of Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard, military and police were \u201clooking for immunity from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is the second time in less than a year the U.S. military has struck inside Iran. Last June, U.S. forces bombed three nuclear facilities. This latest operation was expected to be far more extensive, U.S. officials said.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s attacks across the wider region included in Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait and Doha, all places with U.S. military bases or that are allied to the U.S.<\/p>\n
At least four people were injured at a luxury hotel in Dubai, and a civilian was killed by falling debris in Abu Dhabi after a strike involving Iranian ballistic missiles.\u00a0Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which is a crucial artery for global oil supplies, was also disrupted.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Iranian-Montrealers react to reports Iran\u2019s Ayatollah Khamenei has been killed after a U.S.-Israeli attack on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.<\/p>\n
In Mumbai, Prime Minister Mark Carney signalled support for Washington\u2019s objective of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while stressing Canada was not participating militarily and had not been party to the planning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East,\u201d Carney said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois leader Yves-Fran\u00e7ois Blanchet acknowledged in a post on X what he called the \u201cpersistent threat\u201d posed by Iran\u2019s regime and Israel\u2019s right to security. However he also expressed concern over the use of force without prior backing from the U.S. Congress and allied governments.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in Montreal on Saturday, the Palestinian Youth Movement, which has been one of the most visible pro-Palestinian organizations in the city over the past two years, held a smaller rally outside the Israeli consulate.<\/p>\n
\u201cNO WAR ON IRAN,\u201d the group wrote on Instagram, urging supporters to gather at 3 p.m. The group denounced what it described as a declaration of war by Washington and Israel against Tehran.<\/p>\n
The United Nations Security Council was convening an emergency meeting Saturday.<\/p>\n
Write to Harry at hnorth@postmedia.com<\/p>\n
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