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VAHID SALEMI \/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n
Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday.<\/p>\n
Shahidian described a sleepless night spent waiting for word from his friends and relatives in Iran, who last made contact with him around 3 a.m. after missiles struck key targets associated with the Islamic Republic government.<\/p>\n
U.S. President Donald Trump said those strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, although his death was not immediately confirmed by Iran.<\/p>\n
Trump called on the Iranian public to rise up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the nation since 1979, urging them to \u201cseize control of your destiny\u201d following the barrage of military strikes.<\/p>\n
The action follows at least two months of escalating protests that saw tens of thousands of Iranians take to the streets since Dec. 28, risking their lives in the nation\u2019s largest uprising since the Islamic regime took hold.<\/p>\n
The Canadian government has issued a statement of support for the attack, saying it will prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and stop its regime from further threatening international peace and security.<\/p>\n
That message from Prime Minister Mark Carney was welcomed by Shahidian, who said he has watched from afar as Iran fell further into tyranny over the past several decades.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t TYLER SEARLE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n More than a dozen people rallied at Polo Park, where the played music, danced and chanted in celebration of the the U.S. and Israel military strikes against the Islamic Republic regime in Iran on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough the years, nothing got better. Every year passed by and the people were suffering more and more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dream and my hope is that this regime finally can be gone from our country and the people can get over to the government and rule themselves, and then we, all from the diaspora, can go back and live peacefully.\u201d<\/p>\n He and more than a dozen other members of Manitoba\u2019s Iranian community rallied outside Polo Park around 1 p.m., where they played music, chanted and danced in celebration.<\/p>\n Tears welled in Zhaleh Parsaei\u2019s eyes as she described mixed feelings of hope, excitement and fear in the wake of the military action.<\/p>\n \u201cSince last night I cried several times. I just couldn\u2019t stop my tears,\u201d she said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t sleep at all last night. We were just watching the news. We were talking to people, like to my family, cousins, they had internet at first. They were already so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Parsaei moved to Canada permanently in 2015, after spending 30 years in Iran. She said she fears for the safety of her family, but she hopes the people of Iran heed Trump\u2019s call and take to the streets to overthrow the Islamic regime.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t TYLER SEARLE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Shervin Shahidian, an Iranian-born man now living in Winnipeg, helped organize a rally in solidarity with Iran, after U.S. and Israel military strikes against the Islamic Republic regime on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cI worked there, I studied there and I am a woman, so I understand the pain there,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is a hell for Iranian people.\u201d<\/p>\n She said she does not see the military attack as an act of war, but rather one of liberation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are grateful for leaders like President Trump. I know many people maybe don\u2019t like him, but he\u2019s the only leader who stands with Iranian people and he knows that this regime is not just a threat for Iranian people, but a threat for the whole world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Her husband, Mojtaba Montazeri, said the same.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cPresident Trump is a man of his word,\u201d Montazeri said.<\/p>\n Organizing the local rally was a critical display of solidarity for the people of Iran, whose communication with the outside world is frequently limited by internet blackouts, Shahidian said.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t TYLER SEARLE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Husband and wife Mojtaba Montazeri and Zhaleh Parsaei celebrate the U.S. and Israel military strikes against the Islamic Republic regime in Iran on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people of Iran are going to remember what we did here in the international community (and whether) we have been their voice or not,\u201d he said. \u201cIt means a lot to the freedom and the liberation of the Iranian people back home.\u201d<\/p>\n The group spent just under one hour at Polo Park, before forming a convoy with their vehicles and driving westbound on Portage Avenue to the Costco Wholesale.<\/p>\n tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Tyler Searle Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press\u2019s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic\u2019s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022.\u00a0Read more about Tyler<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
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