Dennis Bayazitov | Assistant News Editor

Featured image: Torontonians gathered in Mel Lastman Square to express support for the protests in Iran. | Dennis Bayazitov

Drivers passing Mel Lastman Square on January 6 were met with more than 250 protesters gathered to picket, chant, and raise Iranian flags to amplify the voices of the protesters in Tehran and more than 60 other Iranian cities demanding an end to the Islamic Republic and Khomeini revolution in Iran.

The event, which began at 2 p.m., was primarily organized on Facebook by former Iranian political prisoners, university professors, and human rights activists through a page called Toronto: In Solidarity with Brave Iranian Protesters.

“[As of January 6], there [have] been almost 10 days of demonstrations in Iran people raised in order to get rid of the regime—regardless of which group they belong to, whether they are fundamentalists or reformists,” says Michael Shiraevand, a member with the Mothers Against Executions Institution, and one of the dozens of protesters who orated through a microphone that day. “We are here to support them—to make sure their voice is heard in Canada and outside Iran.”

In their speeches, several participants also demanded the Canadian government not support the Islamic regime, be it economically, socially, or politically.

“In every part of Iran, people are chanting ‘death to the Islamic Regime of Iran.’ They want to establish a democratic society in their country,” MPP of Richmond Hill Reza Moridi said at the event.

“It is for us and it is for the leaders of the world to come out and support the Iranian people.”

“I think it is time that we all come together and make it known to the world that they are absolutely in the right,” said MP of Willowdale Ali Ehsassi.

“They are standing up for all those things we take for granted in this country.”

York Economics alumnus and one of the organizers of the event, Salman Sima, was an energetic voice among the crowd. “We criticize Justin Trudeau for his shameful silence and send our solidarity message to our brave friends in Iran,” he says.

“If you say: ‘People should have the right to free expression,’ that’s good, but it is not enough.

“We need more action from the Canadian government, and the best outcome here today are these pictures that will extend via the media to Iran.”

As a former Iranian political prisoner, Sami’s emphasis was to honour the protesters who had been gunned down by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps—the chief militia responsible for protecting Islamic order in Iran— earlier that week.

While the protesters generally gathered for the same cause, the turnout was comprised of several contending Iranian political parties and groups with their own agendas.

Iraj Rezaai, with the Worker’s Communist Party of Iran (CPI), led a chant, repeating “down with Islamic Republic in Iran” to an echoing crowd.

“There [have been] almost 39 years years of the Islamic regime torturing people and killing people, where women and workers don’t have any rights,” he says.

Rezaai clarifies, while no participants support the regime, “some of them want to take the power with the help of the United States.”

“We don’t want to have another Iraq and another Afghanistan and Syria,” he adds. “All the United States wants to do is show their power.”

Rezaai and fellow members of the CPI encompassed about a quarter of the protest, marching in a circle and chanting their own messages for most of the rally. They disbanded first, around 2:45 p.m.

One protester, Robert Jones, noticeably stood out in the crowd, as he was the only person holding an American flag. “I hope the revolution kicks in and they manage to overthrow the tyrannical system they have now,” he says. “If nothing else, re-institute the constitutional monarchy they had prior to the revolution.

“I am an American and a Trump disciple,” he continues. “America and Trump, believe it or not, are the best hope the Iranian people have if this thing kicks off—and they need some assistance.”

Despite featuring a mix of political associations and backgrounds, and the crowd growing rowdy at times with heated verbal altercations, the protest was contained, with no fights or violence.

“In general, everyone wants the same thing,” says Shiraevand. “The main message is for us to be the voice of the [Iranian protesters].”

At 3 p.m., the rest of the protesters began to disband, mostly relocating into the Starbucks and adjoining indoor plaza to Mel Lastman Square.

Toronto Police Service officers closed in and promptly unplugged microphones from speakers, bringing the organized hour-long event to an end.

By 3:15 p.m., Mel Lastman Square had cleared out.