Unease spreads through Iranian-Canadian communities after U.S. strikes

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Iranian-Canadians say they fear an escalation in Middle East hostilities after U.S. President Donald Trump led the United States into conflict with Iran, ordering air strikes against three nuclear sites.

Fakhreddin Jamali, co-founder of the Iranian Heritage Society of Edmonton and a professor emeritus in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Alberta, said most of his family is in Iran. He has maintained daily communication with family members who are on edge, expecting more to happen.

“I have an older sister who has mobility problems and is in an apartment in Iran,” Dr. Jamali said in an interview from Vancouver. “We are very worried about her. I don’t know how long this is going to last, especially with supplies, grocery stores, medical attention, all these things.”

He said he worries that the escalation will overshadow what is happening in Gaza – “because that is more of a tragedy than Iran” – and is hopeful for a diplomatic resolution.

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The conflict has reverberated through his social circles.

“Last night I was having dinner with a bunch of Iranians, and almost everybody was depressed, everybody was down,” he said. “Everybody is thinking about it, in the back of their minds.”

The Pentagon said the three nuclear sites sustained “extremely severe damage and destruction” in the air strikes, which came after more than a week of attacks by Israel on Iran. Iran has vowed to retaliate, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying his country would respond “based on our legitimate right to self-defence.”

Mona Ghassemi, president of the Iranian Canadian Congress, said her tight-knit circle is deeply concerned and looking for unity in the face of aggression. Her group strongly condemns the U.S. attacks, and is dismayed that Prime Minister Mark Carney did not do the same.

Mr. Carney said in a post to X Sunday morning that “Iran’s nuclear programme is a grave threat to international security, and Canada has been consistently clear that Iran can never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.”

He added that the situation in the Middle East remains highly volatile, and called for diplomatic talks to resume immediately.

“Carney ran on a platform that he will stand up to the U.S., but when it comes to these military aggressions, he is supporting them,” Ms. Ghassemi said in an interview from Montreal.

She called a statement by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre – in which he said American and Israeli actions to stop Iran’s “genocidal regime” from acquiring a nuclear weapon are “100% justified” – even more egregious. She cited the International Court of Justice’s January, 2024, ruling, which found that there is a plausible case that Israel may be committing genocidal acts in Gaza.

“This is a reversal of the facts,” Ms. Ghassemi said of Mr. Poilievre’s statement.

Nima Machouf, a member of a Montreal Iranian women’s association, said family members in Iran are living “from one bomb to another.”

The epidemiologist and former NDP candidate worries the strikes will only lead to more violence and hurt the people who are fighting to free themselves from Iran’s repressive regime.

Kaveh Shahrooz, a lawyer and a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said many Iranians are worried about the impact the U.S. decision to join Israel’s war on Iran could have on citizens.

But he said some opponents of the regime are celebrating the U.S. strikes, happy to see Iran’s nuclear program “effectively dismantled.”

With a report from The Canadian Press