{"id":512552,"date":"2026-03-03T23:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T23:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/512552\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T23:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T23:19:14","slug":"montreal-communities-on-edge-as-war-breaks-out-in-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/512552\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal communities on edge as war breaks out in Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"

As war breaks out in Iran and across the Middle East, many in Montreal diaspora communities are fearing for loved ones abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have news\u201d about family in Iran, said Sarah, who left Iran for France in 1984 before moving to Montreal in 2008. The Gazette agreed not to publish Sarah\u2019s full name, which she said would risk her safety should she travel to Iran in the future.<\/p>\n

Most of her family is in Iran, Sarah said, but \u201cwe don\u2019t know what state they\u2019re in.\u201d She said she couldn\u2019t reach her family members. \u201cEverything is cut off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday marked the fourth day of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which has now spread into a regional war. On the first day of the war, U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n

Israel and the U.S, continued to fire on Iran Tuesday, while Israel sent soldiers into southern Lebanon, where the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia is based, and carried out a wave of strikes in Beirut. Iran has fired missiles at countries including Qatar, Bahrain and Oman that host U.S. bases.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Red Crescent has reported 787 dead since the war began last Saturday. Lebanon\u2019s health ministry says more than 50 people have died as a result of the Israeli offensive. Around a dozen people have died in Israel. The U.S. said six of its soldiers have been killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m worried not just for my family, but for everyone,\u201d Sarah said.<\/p>\n

Last Saturday, a jubilant gathering of Iranian Montrealers<\/a> had celebrated the start of the war, saying that they hoped it would result in regime change.<\/p>\n

Sarah, who is a member of the Association des femmes iraniennes de Montr\u00e9al, said she was upset to see Iranians supporting the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, like everyone, I\u2019m happy that a dictator (Khamenei) is gone from the world,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019m very worried about the bombardment of Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCrowds aren\u2019t always right,\u201d Sarah said. \u201cI\u2019m against war everywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before leaving Iran, Sarah said she was held as a political prisoner \u2014 not just by the current Islamic Republic regime, but also under the Shah regime. Now, many of those who support the war favour Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi\u2019s son, Reza Pahlavi, to head a new Iranian government. Having left Iran during the revolution, Pahlavi lives outside of Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Montrealers protesting in favour of regime change in Iran on Saturday Jan. 31, 2026, hold up images of Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Shah, as their hope for the new leader of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need a leader who lived all his life in comfort,\u201d Sarah said. \u201cPower (should be) in the hands of people who suffered\u201d in Iran.<\/p>\n

Among Jewish Montrealers, \u201cthere\u2019s a sense of anxiety and tension,\u201d said Yair Szlak, president of Federation CJA. \u201cOur concern is of course, as usual, the security situation in and around the Jewish community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have people throughout the Middle East sitting in bomb shelters,\u201d Szlak said. \u201cI think that is sad and I think the world needs to take note.\u201d<\/p>\n

When war spread to Lebanon, Caroline Codsi said she experienced \u201cd\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.\u201d She had previously spoken to The Gazette in 2024<\/a>, following Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon that killed hundreds.<\/p>\n

Codsi, a Lebanese Montrealer who founded an organization certifying workplaces that achieve equity, diversity and inclusion goals, lived between Lebanon, France and Montreal in her youth, fleeing and returning to Lebanon throughout years of civil war.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe moved out of Lebanon and back into Lebanon eight times in 15 years,\u201d she said. Now living outside of Lebanon, \u201cyou almost feel guilty that your loved ones are going through this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Codsi said she recently spoke to her cousin in Lebanon, who called the civil war a \u201cpicnic in the park\u201d compared to the threats faced today. When facing airstrikes as a kid, \u201cwe were able to run into the basement and hide,\u201d Codsi said. Now, \u201cthe arms are so heavy that one missile will collapse a 20-storey building in a nanosecond.\u201d<\/p>\n

With relatives living around the globe, Codsi\u2019s family had been planning a reunion in Beirut this summer. The reunion now appears out of the question, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI keep thinking, OK, this summer will be the right time to go back,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then something happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

With files from Bloomberg.<\/p>\n

jawilson@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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