Members of Toronto’s Iranian community rallied on Friday in support of anti-government protests in Iran.
Two rallies were held, one at Simcoe Park downtown and the other at Mel Lastman Square in North York, drawing more than one hundred people in total. Demonstrations sang, chanted, waved flags and held photos of loved ones.
“Be their voice!” demonstrators chanted, adding they are keeping a close eye on the protests in Tehran and standing in solidarity with loved ones back home.
Mehrdokht Hadi, an organizer of the downtown rally, said the demonstrators are trying to draw attention to the uprising in Iran and are concerned for the safety of the protesters there.
“They’ve come to the streets again to call for democracy for Iran, freedom for Iran. And the government of Iran has shut down the internet,” she said.
“We’re here because the internet is shut down. And when they do that, like November 2019, the massacre starts. We are here to ask for help, to help us to be the voice of the people of Iran.”
According to a report by the The Associated Press, at least 65 people have been killed in the protests that started in late December over the economy and have turned into demonstrations against the government.
The protests also represent a test of whether the Iranian public could be swayed by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose fatally ill father, the shah, fled Iran just before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Pahlavi, who called for the protests Thursday night, similarly called for demonstrations at 8 p.m. local time Friday.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said the protesters, who state media have called “terrorists,” are acting “in order to please the president of the United States.”
The Associated Press said the government cut off the internet and has blocked international calls. More than 2,300 people have been detained.
Canada ‘strongly condemns’ violence, intimidation
Hadi said the demonstrators want the Canadian government to show its support for the people of Iran by taking a strong stand.
“Clear, strong and meaningful statements from the politicians of Canada — we want to hear that,” Hadi said.
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by the official account of Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday said, “Canada strongly condemns the killing of protestors, the use of violence, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation tactics by the Iranian regime against its own people. We stand in solidarity with the Iranian people, whose voice must be heard, as they demand freedom and dignity.”
his frame grab from a video released Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, by Iranian state television shows a man holding a device to document burning vehicles during a night of mass protests in Zanjan, Iran. (Iranian state TV via The Associated Press)
Parasto Azizi, who has family in the country and also demonstrated Friday, said she is concerned the Iranian government may unleash violence on the protesters now that the Internet is shut down. Her grandparents, cousins and friends are still in the country.
When Iran shut down the internet for five days in November 2019 in response to protests against fuel price increases, Amnesty International said more than 100 people were killed by security forces.
“The last news we got from Iran was that the streets were full of people, they were protesting and finally it felt like we’re one step closer to being free. I saw places that I grew up in that I was arrested for not wearing the hijab and for the first time, I saw so many people really standing there and chanting and that was the last news we got,” she said.
“We are very worried about the people there right now. And we want to tell the world that, although it sounds like silence from Iran, we know there are people on the streets shouting at this very moment and we are here to amplify their voices,” she said.
Azizi said her message to people in Canada is: “There are people fighting for freedom. There are people fighting for women’s rights. There are people that don’t stay silent. And if they, at this moment, cannot broadcast their voices, we want others to know that they are there and they’re fighting and they need international support.”
Demonstrators ‘amplifying’ voices of protesters in Iran
Mani Azimzadeh, originally from Iran, said he attended the downtown rally to show solidarity with the people of Iran.
“Because of my political views, my sexual orientation, my identity, I was oppressed and I could not be myself. And then I had to fight over and over to have a normal life, to have a free life, which was deprived by force,” Azimzadeh said.
“My fellow Iranians were tortured in jails or on the streets. They were killed, they were executed. I left Iran because of this. But I cannot forget that. Any chance that I have, I come here to amplify the voices of people in Iran,” Azimzadeh added.
“Now people are on the street, millions of them are on the streets protesting the regime, asking to change the regime … Amplifying their voice is the least that I can do, and I’m here to do that.”
Members of the Iranian-Canadian community hold flags at a small rally in Mel Lastman Square in North York. (Dale Manucdoc/CBC)
Supporters say this uprising is building on previous efforts.
Kaveh Shahrooz, lawyer and senior fellow with senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said Friday the protests are not surprising. Shahrooz said he stands with the protesters of Iran in calling for regime change, and while apprehensive, he remains optimistic that something good will come out of the protests.
“The Iranian people have let it be known over the past few years how frustrated they are, how many grievances they have. And it’s patently obvious to anyone that observes Iran that the Iranian regime can’t answer to those grievances. It cannot actually address the things that are ruining people’s lives,” he said.
“The corruption in Iran is rampant, poverty, the lack of human rights. Women are second class citizens. All of this is adding up to this explosive sense of anger.”