Iranian-Canadian Farimehr Hakemzadeh thinks of one word when she reflects on the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran that led to the death Saturday of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Hope,” she says. “The people of Iran have been fighting this fight for a long time. For over half a century they have been living in fear, enduring imprisonment, enduring torture, enduring execution.”
Hakemzadeh, a human rights advocate, left Iran in 2014 in search of more freedom. She’s lived in Winnipeg for nearly 10 years but still has some family and friends back home.
“Today people are celebrating and dancing in the Iran because they know peace was not possible with the Islamic regime being in power,” Hakemzadeh said.
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Fellow Iranian-Canadian, Allan Wise who also lives in Winnipeg, says this weekend’s killing was the right choice.
“I do not use this or take this lightly, it is a level equivalent of comparison to taking out Hitler,” Wise said.
In the days since the assassination, there’s been fallout across the Middle East.
“The United States and Israel attacked Iran in the absence of an armed attack by Iran on those countries. There is no legal basis under the UN Charter for that attack that was launched by Israel and the United States,” said Nathan Derejkom, an assistant professor of law at the University of Manitoba.
Derejkom is also the Mauro Chair in Human Rights and Social Justice at the university He says since Iran was attacked unlawfully, the regime can now use force of its own under the UN charter.
“The devastating impacts this could have on civilians all across the region should be at the forefront of our need to really bring an end to military operations,” Derejko said.
For now, Iranian Canadians remain optimistic about a brighter future in the country they once called home.
“The end goal has to be regime change,” Wise said. “That’s the only way Iran can reclaim itself in the international community.”
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