The story can be read at RAIR Foundation. The bones can be seen here though.
There are two groups of expat Iranians on the streets yesterday. The first was a small group I have seen at pretty much the same spot between Parliament and the bridge over the Canal on Rideau st. since the Covid era.
I got an interview with the organizer of that group yesterday on his views of the events of the day. As he and his group had been there for years, I really wanted to focus on how Canadian media had treated his views on Iran. He was very diplomatic in his answer. But it isn’t hard to tell what he really thinks about it.
(As with all the videos in this post, hit the gear and dial it up to the top quality for the best viewing experience)
There was however a MUCH larger group that assembled at the last minute. The first group in the video above is at the hill at least every Saturday if not more often. But hits group was assembled independently and at the very last minute, since they only made the calls when they heard about the attack.
The second group also differs in that they support the instalment of Reza Pahlavi as leader of Iran. He is the son of the late Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in 1979 during the Islamic Revolution that brought Ruhollah Khomeini to power. The first group feels he is probably just as bad as the Mullahs but in some other way. They want a more pure democracy.
But the majority seem to want Reza installed.
below is an interview with an organizer of yesterday’s protest:
Below are moments from the march from parliament Hill to the US Embassy in Ottawa. It was a great moment when hundreds of Persians, none of them exactly white by the leftist’s standards, marched past a rag tag few professional leftists while the Persians chanted slogans of devotion and appreciation to Donald Trump and Bibi Netanyahu.
Hearing them chant against the Islamic Republic was also refreshing. It is amazing what non-legacy Canadians and actual refugees can get away with on the streets compared to say, Canadians demanding their basic rights to bodily autonomy.
A couple of stills if anyone wants to share, help demonstrate the mood.
Reza Pahlavi Must Address His ‘White Russian’ Problem
[…]
Beyond name recognition, Pahlavi is a good man. He is both kind and generous. He neither comes across as arrogant nor effete….
Pahlavi’s problem is his organization.
His office exudes disorganization if not incompetence. It is fissiparous. When his enthusiasts mischaracterize critics and criticism, they do Pahlavi no service with their lack of professionalism. Prioritizing sycophancy over substance is a poor look.
The National Union for Democracy in Iran, an organization sympathetic to Pahlavi, has formulated a general plan for transition in Iran… but pointing to the blueprint for an Iranian transition misses the organizational point: Pahlavi’s team lacks a strategic vision to guide his own office. Where Pahlavi’s staff ends and the online mob begins remains unclear.
Such indiscipline, coupled with Pahlavi’s preference for the United States and Western Europe, raises concern about his growing “White Russian” problem. Following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the White Russians – Russian elite and monarchists who fled the Communists – settled in Europe and the U.S.
They formed cultural and political organizations and talked about restoring the Romanov dynasty. When the Russian civil war erupted, however, many of the White Russian elites declined to return. They preferred the comforts of Parisienne London and Berlin society to the deprivations of a front-line struggle to oust the Bolsheviks.
Today, Pahlavi’s frequent appearances in Paris, London, and Los Angeles reinforce a perception that his is a movement prioritizing comfort. More importantly, most, if not all, of his most ardent and vocal supporters crave access to their king, but seem unlikely to forfeit their lives in America or Europe to return to Iran. In effect, they have become the 21st-century White Russians.
https://www.aei.org/op-eds/reza-pahlavi-must-address-his-white-russian-problem/
Terrific coverage of the demonstration, interview excellent as ever. You ask the right questions and actually let the person answer!
I would discourage focus on Pahlavi.
So would PTrump.
Proud of the group standing against oppression of Islam ., the brutal Satan.