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Canada must support Iranians' right to protest: Wilkinson

As protests continue in Iran, Canada’s role is to support the rights of the protesters, according to North Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson.
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As protests continue in Iran, Canada’s role is to support the rights of the protesters, according to North Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson.

At least 21 protesters have died and 1,000 more were jailed following a series of rallies across Iran that focused on government corruption and unmanageable living costs.

Canada is “fundamentally in support of people exercising their human rights,” according to Wilkinson, who noted that many observers are “concerned about the threat of violence” in Iran.

“We would like to see . . . more freedom and more democratic processes in Iran.”

While the protests were initially branded sedition by Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani recently struck a more conciliatory tone, stating the protesters have political and social demands as well as economic concerns.

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Canadian-Iranian citizen and North Vancouver resident Nick Hosseinzadeh - file photo Mike Wakefield, North Shore News

The president should put forward a package of sweeping reforms to distance himself from Iran’s clerical establishment, suggested North Vancouver resident and Canadian-Iranian citizen Nick Hosseinzadeh.

“He can show the people: It’s not me, it’s them.”

The unrest in Iran is a “snowball effect” following years of frustration exacerbated by politicians “over-promising and not delivering,” he said.

Climate change may also factor in the protests, according to Hosseinzadeh, who suggested many farmers have been forced to look for work in bigger cities.

“You’ve had a lot of economic displacement where poor farmers and poor workers are moving into cities and there’s not enough work,” he said. “I know from the family members I’ve talked to in Iran, everyone is looking over at Syria and kind of shivering. They’re scared. They don’t want what happened there to happen here.”

While previous protests were largely confined to Tehran, the more recent wave of unrest has spread to several major cities, noted Hadi Ebrahimi, editor of North Vancouver-based Persian interest newspaper Shahrvand.

Many Iranians working two or three jobs and struggling to survive decided to take to the street, Ebrahimi explained.

“The resistance movement is not an official movement,” Hosseinzadeh agreed.

“There’s no face of the protest like there was in 2009,” he said.

The recent protests should not be confused with the pro-government assemblies, according to Hosseinzadeh.

“It’s (assemblies) the regime getting their government employees and people who support them out to counter things.”

While federal governments around the world should pressure Iran to uphold human rights, an intervention would legitimize the claim that protests are “foreign-made,” according to Hosseinzadeh.

“The last thing you want is foreign governments to get involved directly just because of the history of Iran and foreign governments.”