{"id":511705,"date":"2026-03-03T13:53:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T13:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/511705\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T13:53:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T13:53:18","slug":"south-surrey-iranian-diaspora-reacts-as-u-s-israeli-air-strikes-continue-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/511705\/","title":{"rendered":"South Surrey Iranian diaspora reacts as U.S.-Israeli air strikes continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

As U.S. and Israeli air strikes continue in Tehran and other Iranian cities after months of worldwide protests, those in the South Surrey-White Rock Iranian community continue to be concerned for family and friends<\/a> in Iran.<\/p>\n

The official state media of Iran\u2019s Islamic theocratic regime confirmed Saturday (Feb. 28) its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli air strike targeting his compound in Tehran.<\/p>\n

In retaliation, Iran has sent missile strikes targeting Israel, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, according to Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

As missile strikes continue to be traded in the Middle East, the Iranian diaspora thousands of kilometres away in the Lower Mainland, Okanagan and throughout B.C.<\/a> took to the streets to celebrate the supreme leader\u2019s death over the weekend, but \u2014 with another internet blackout imposed by the Islamic regime entering its third day on Monday (March 2) \u2014 it has been difficult to reach loved ones who are in Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, for the last 48 hours, they\u2019ve shut down the internet. I don\u2019t have access to anybody (in Iran),\u201d Sabeti said Monday morning (March 2), recalling how the regime shut down the internet during protests in January. \u201cThis time is worse actually. Nobody has a connection to family \u2026 you cannot even call directly from your phone or landline.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Sabeti \u2014 who owns a martial arts academy in South Surrey and was just named <\/a> president of International Sport Kickboxing Association Canada\u2019s<\/a> amateur sports division \u2014 personally thinks the death of the supreme leader is good, he is apprehensive for his family and friends in Iran as air strikes continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re hitting and bombing all over Iran. \u2026 Unfortunately the Iranian government built all their infrastructure and army bases in middle of a very populated area,\u201d Sabeti noted. \u201cRight in the middle of a street, right beside hospitals, right beside residences. So, when they get hit, residential (areas) get hit, too. That\u2019s really bad and a tragedy for Iranian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabeti is worried for his loved ones, especially his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad\u2019s house is in Tehran and is right beside one of the very central bases in Tehran. I hope \u2014 I spoke with him a few weeks ago, and I told him to please leave and go to the northern part of Iran by the Caspian Sea, which is safer. I hope he did it, because the last time in the Twelve-Day War between Iran and Israel, all those house got hit by the blast waves.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy to move throughout the country with the conflict that is happening, however, and Sabeti said there should be an immediate ceasefire, with the remaining regime members surrendering themselves to the people of Iran, with the next move being a democratic election, so the people of Iran can choose their government.<\/p>\n

He is also hopeful the U.S. and its allies focus missile strikes far away from residential areas.<\/p>\n

A potential war is no good for anyone, Sabeti said, especially for innocent, non-military, non-regime citizens who are simply trying to live their lives but become victims of the air strikes.<\/p>\n

The best scenario, he said, would be for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who \u201ckilled more than 40,000 people in Iran in two days\u201d during the protests, to be stopped and stranded, with the U.S. and Israel ceasing fire immediately.<\/p>\n

He also feels the U.S. and other Western countries could bring pressure on the Iranian government through diplomatic means, and not deal with the current government or treat it as the official government, as the theocratic Islamic regime was never voted into power. <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t deal with them. Don\u2019t shake hands with them. Make them pay back the price by diplomacy, not with war.\u201d<\/p>\n

True diplomacy requires transparency, consistent principles, and responsibility to citizens, not merely words spoken at press conferences, Sabeti continued, not corruption, as \u201chistory shows that unchecked power breeds corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt requires actions that align with those words \u2026 when those entrusted with power begin to operate in secrecy, making deals that benefit themselves rather than the people, the damage can be deeper than any open conflict,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cA society that demands accountability from its leaders is not rebellious \u2014 it is responsible. Only through transparency and integrity can diplomacy be genuine and peace be sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 with files from Ty Lim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As U.S. and Israeli air strikes continue in Tehran and other Iranian cities after months of worldwide protests,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":{"0":"post-511705","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-surrey","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-surrey"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511705","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=511705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/510496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}