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As people in Iran protest their country\u2019s current regime, Iranians in New Brunswick are demonstrating in support of friends and family they’re unable to contact amid widespread communications blackout. <\/p>\n
Tabassom Tallaie is one of those New Brunswickers who came to Canada with her parents 10 years ago. She said living in Canada is a luxury and wished she could be in Iran to support her loved ones \u2014 not in Fredericton.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt comes with a sort of guilt that you feel like, \u2018Oh, I’m taking advantage of all the opportunities I have here.\u2019 Mainly freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of action, but then our family, they are just fighting for basic rights,\u201d said Tallaie.<\/p>\n
She last spoke with her family about a week ago and has been trying to call five or six times a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were safe at the time. They were hopeful,” she said. <\/p>\n
“They said we will if we need to sacrifice our lives, we are not afraid of doing so and I really feel proud of them for saying these words that they are not afraid of sacrificing their lives for gaining freedom.”<\/p>\n
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A rally was held at Fredericton City Hall in support of people in Iran. There will also be a rally in Moncton on Jan. 16 at the city hall. (Submitted by Tabassom Tallaie)<\/p>\n
Tallaie and around 200 others gathered outside city hall in Fredericton on Jan. 10 to support the Iranian people.<\/p>\n
Those people are opposing Iran’s clerical establishment after a deteriorating economy, including high inflation, has angered many. <\/p>\n
‘A revolutionary act’<\/p>\n
Shahrzad Mojab, professor emerita in women and gender studies at the University of Toronto, said there is a \u201clong simmering anger over political repression and civil rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mojab said there have been water shortages, air pollution and widespread unemployment.
The protests were met with a violent crackdown as the government pushes back. CBC News has reported at least 2,000 people have been killed by authorities in Iran and more than 10,000 have been detained.<\/p>\n
Tallaie described the recent events more than a protest or a demonstration.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone calls it a revolutionary act,” she said. “They are all in the streets, our family members, they’re all protesting for that very single basic right they have, which is \u2026 a regime change.\u201d<\/p>\n
She is grateful to have lived in Canada and go to university here which has given her the perspective of the rights her friends and family aren\u2019t guaranteed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis radical extremist Islamic regime in Iran, they just shot off the voice of whoever thinks differently from them and they persecute them easily,\u201d said Tallaie.<\/p>\n
She said the government has blocked people from working or receiving identification cards.<\/p>\n
No contact with family and friends<\/p>\n
The government in Iran has recently blocked most communications and internet connection in the country which has left people, like Meysam Bakhti, out of touch with their friends and family.<\/p>\n
Bakhti lives in Moncton after moving from Iran in 2021 to attend law school. He said he has heard of friends that have contacted their family in Iran.<\/p>\n
He said some people have been fleeing the country or going to the airports to get enough signal to send messages.<\/p>\n
Bakhti said they\u2019re sharing information about the rising death toll. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am really concerned over the fate of my brave fellow Iranian people who are living under extremely hard conditions. They are facing massacre,\u201d said Bakhti.<\/p>\n
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Meysam Bakhti, left, moved from Iran in 2021 to Moncton where he is now a lawyer. He said all of his family in this photo are currently in Iran and he hasn’t been able to contact them. (Submitted by Meysam Bakhti)<\/p>\n
Some people have been relying on Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink internet technology, but Bakhti has heard the Iranian government has been trying to block that signal as well.<\/p>\n
He said he foresaw a conflict like this happening when President Donald Trump came back into power.<\/p>\n
Bakhti said sanctions from the U.S. and United Nations would push Iran\u2019s economy towards collapse.<\/p>\n