FUREY: Canadians’ eyes are now opened wide to Iran’s wretchedness
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It’s not just the plane crash that should make us angry. Or the fact Iran first shamelessly lied and tried to cover up the truth. It’s the entire track record of this whole wretched regime in Tehran that deserves our condemnation.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was right to say on Saturday that Iran finally coming clean and admitting that it was one of their own missiles that shot down the jet that killed 176 passengers including 57 Canadians was just the first of “many steps” to come, in terms of getting at the truth and seeking justice. This is far from over.
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Meanwhile, thousands of Iranians are now taking to the streets to condemn the regime for what is only its latest of dreadful deeds, and to call for the end of Ayatollah Khamanei’s reign. We must side with them and amplify their voices.
Regime change from within is what’s needed to stop future Qassem Soleimanis, to stop Iran from continuing to slaughter its own people, to stop things like these plane crashes from happening again.
Let’s hope we can get bipartisan consensus on this as well.
Soon after the United States’ targeted killing of Soleimani, an argument started doing the rounds on social media directed at those who were celebrating the assassination of this terrorist mastermind.
It went something like this: “All of these people applauding the death of Soleimani had never heard of the guy before. Yet now they’re suddenly experts on him and act like they have an informed opinion?”
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It was clearly supposed to be some sort of amazing putdown by those who would rather blather on about American imperialism like out of touch Marxists than be honest with themselves about what’s really happening in the world today. What they perhaps didn’t realize was that their argument was a bit self-defeating.
It’s true that a lot of people in North America probably hadn’t heard of Soleimani before the other week. But here’s the thing: Now they have.
The public has had an education in the activities of this senior figure from the uppermost ranks of Iran who had for years been travelling across the region with the blessing of the Ayatollahs to conduct war and terror operations in other countries.
If Canadians’ eyes weren’t open to the murderous skullduggery of the Islamic Republic of Iran before, they are now.
Iranian-Canadian dissidents tried to warn us. For years, they’ve been urging Canadian politicians and the media to awaken public consciousness to the despicable nature of the regime that they escaped, one that ever since the 1979 Revolution has arrested, tortured and killed many thousands of its own people for the sin of not bowing before the Khameinists.
Shahab Raana, right, & Sahan Hatefi Mostaghim are seen in this undated handout photo from the Institut Technique Aviron de Montreal Facebook page. The two men were among the 176 people who were killed when Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 crashed after takeoff near Tehran, Iran. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Institut Technique Aviron de Montreal - Facebook
Mehdi Eshaghian is shown in an undated handout photo. Eshaghian was among the 176 people who were killed when Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 crashed after takeoff near Tehran, Iran. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Ali Mazaheri
Zahra Naghibi poses in this undated handout photo. Naghibi was among the 176 people who were killed when Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 crashed after takeoff near Tehran, Iran. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - University of Windsor, Rupp Carriveau
Samira Bashiri, left, and Hamidreza Setareh pose in this undated handout photo. Bashiri and Setareh were among the 176 people who were killed when Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 crashed after takeoff near Tehran, Iran. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO
Iran plane crash victim Roja Azadian, 43, said goodbye to her husband, Mohsen Ahmadipour, at the airport in Tehran. He had to book another flight because his ticket was no longer valid. The couple had planned to return to Ottawa together. Facebook Boeing Co. 737-800 aircraft, operated by Ukraine International Airlines, crashed shortly after takeoff near Shahedshahr, Iran, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. Keywords: Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752; Iran plane crash; victim; January 8, 2020; Ottawa victim
Facebook photo of Fereshteh Maleki Dizaje, 41, one of the Tehran plane crash victims. Fereshteh Maleki Dizaje, 41, an architect, was returning after celebrating her daughter’s wedding in Tehran.
Farhad Niknam is shown in an undated handout photo. Niknam was among the 176 people who were killed when Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 crashed after takeoff near Tehran, Iran. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Sanaz Valadi
Marzieh (Mari) Foroutan, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo. (Contributed/University of Waterloo)
Amir Ovaysi and his daughter Asal are shown in a handout photo. Ovaysi, his wife Sara Hamzeei, and their daughter Asal Ovaysi were among the 176 people who were killed when Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 crashed after takeoff near Tehran, Iran. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Troy Futher
Amir Ovaysi and his wife Sara Hamzeei are shown in a handout photo. The couple and their daughter Asal Ovaysi were among the 176 people who were killed when Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 crashed after takeoff near Tehran, Iran. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Troy Futher
Hadis Hayatdavoudi was one of the Canadians killed in the Ukrainian International Airlines crash in Iran.
Alma Oladi, a PHD Student at University of Ottawa, celebrated her 27th birthday in Tehran days before boarding the Ukraine International Airlines flight that was supposed to bring her back to Canada.
Milad Ghasemi Ariani, a PhD candidate in marketing and consumer studies at the University of Guelph, was killed in the Ukrainian International Airlines crash in Iran. (Towhidul Islam/University of Guelph)
Zeynab Asadi Lari is shown in a handout photo. Zeynab Asadi Lari has been confirmed as one of the victims of the Iran plane crash. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Parsa Shani
Mohammad Asadi Lari is shown in a handout photo. Mohammad Asadi Lari has been confirmed as one of the victims of the Iran plane crash. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Parsa Shani
Facebook photo of Fareed Arasteh, who has been confirmed as one of the victims of the Iran plane crash.
A school photo, part of a memorial to Arshia Arbabbahrami, at Western Canada High School on January 9, 2020. The grade 12 international student was killed on Flight 752 that went down in Tehran. Jim Wells/Postmedia
Amir Hossein Saeedinia, PhD student at the Center for Design of Advanced Materials at University of Alberta has been identified as another victim of the Ukraine International Airlines plane crash outside Tehran International Airport. (Supplied photo)
Calgarian Kasra Saati was killed when Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 bound for Kyiv crashed moments after it took off from the Tehran airport.
Pedram Mousavi and Mojgan Daneshmand, both professors of engineering at the University of Alberta, died along with their two young daughters, Daria, 14, and Dorina, 9 when the Boeing Co. 737-800 aircraft, operated by Ukraine International Airlines, crashed shortly after takeoff near Shahedshahr, Iran, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. (Supplied photo)
Shekoufeh Choupannejad, an obstetrician, gynecologistl, died along with her two daughters, Saba and Sara Saadat in the plane crash in Iran. Supplied
Newlyweds Arash Pourzarabi, 26, and Pouneh Gorji, 25, were killed after a plane crashed shortly after taking off from the Tehran International Airport in Iran. (Supplied photo/Arash Sabbaghian)
University of Alberta student Nasim Rahmanifar died when a plane operated by Ukraine International Airlines, crashed shortly after takeoff near Shahedshahr, Iran, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020.
Dr. Forough Khadem died when a plane operated by Ukraine International Airlines, crashed shortly after takeoff near Shahedshahr, Iran, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. Photo courtesy of Mitacs
Mohammad Mahdi Sadeghi, his wife, Bahareh Hajesfandiari, and their daughter, Anisa Sadeghi, died when a plane operated by Ukraine International Airlines, crashed shortly after takeoff near Shahedshahr, Iran, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020.
Delaram Dadashnejad, a student at Langara College in Vancouver, is shown in a handout photo provided by a family friend. Dadashnejad has been confirmed as one of the victims of the Iran plane crash.THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Sia Ahmadi
Amir Pasavand who owns Amir Bakery in North Vancouver lost his daughter, 17-year-old Fatemah Pasavand, and his 36-year-old wife, Ayeshe Pourghaderi in the plane crash in Iran.
Sajedeh Saraeian (left), a Western University student, died in a Tehran plane crash.
Saba Saadat died when a Ukraine International Airlines jet crashed shortly after takeoff near Shahedshahr, Iran, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020.
Mansour Pourjam, 53, was a Carleton biology graduate who became a dental technologist. He was killed when a Boeing Co. 737-800 aircraft, operated by Ukraine International Airlines, crashed shortly after takeoff near Shahedshahr, Iran, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020.
Facebook photo of Ali Pey, a Kanata hi-tech entrepreneur who was returning to Ottawa after a trip to visit his ailing father when the Ukraine International Airlines, crashed shortly after takeoff near Shahedshahr, Iran, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020.
Ghazal Nourian, PhD student (Western University/Nanophotonic Energy Materials) CDA IRAN Victims photos
Dr. Parisa Eghbalian died in the Ukraine International Airlines crash in Iran crash along with her daughter Reera Esmaeilion, 9. Photo by eandedentistry.ca
Evin Arsalani and Hiva Molani, of Ajax, were killed along with their young daughter in the Tehran plane crash.
Ajax mom Evin Arsalani cuddles her baby Kurdia in an undated Facebook photo. The pair were killed in the plane crash in Iran.
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And occasionally we have paid attention. Like during the case of Zahra Kazemi. The Iranian-born photographer made her way to Canada in the 1990s with her son, and they later became citizens. She returned to Tehran in 2003 and was arrested taking photographs outside of the notorious Evin Prison. She died in prison and the regime claimed it was caused by a stroke.
That was a lie, like so much of what comes out of their mouths. A military doctor later fled to Canada to claim asylum and brought evidence that Kazemi had been tortured, raped and murdered.
If Kazemi had been only an Iranian citizen living her whole life in Iran, her story would likely have never seen the light of day. How many others have shared her fate? Too many is no doubt the answer.
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Canadians watched over the years as former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in office from 2005 to 2013, gave speeches – some at the United Nations – calling for the elimination of Israel and engaged in Holocaust denial and 9/11 conspiracy theories.
There has thankfully been some pushback from our federal government. It was during Ahmadinejad’s term that Canada shuttered Iran’s Embassy in Ottawa and expelled its diplomats. And in more recent years, Senator Linda Frum has worked to draw our attention to the regime’s odious ways.
But the list of Iran’s transgressions continues to grow. And throughout it all, over the years, there have been periodic uprisings where the regular people of Iran take to the streets in protest of the regime.
This includes the massive Green Movement in 2009, the recent White Wednesday protests where women defiantly took off their hijabs, and the more recent anti-regime protests that continue to this day.
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While it hardly registered in Western media, all throughout 2019 many Iranians took to the streets to protest against the cost of living, the intrusive state, its draconian Islamic laws and the authoritarian rule of Khamenei.
But the government has zero-tolerance for such opposition. Last November – as in only weeks ago – Khamanei ordered for the protests to be stopped at all costs. This resulted in the deaths of 1,500 protesters.
Yes, this atrocity happened only weeks ago. And yet strangely we heard zilch about this from the progressive activists who have reserved their energies for finding fault with the United States.
We cannot trust this duplicitous regime to give us the truth about what happened during the plane crash. Before they admitted it was one of their missiles, one of Iran’s spokesmen said that anyone claiming so was just engaging in Western “psychological warfare” aimed at Iran.
They will shamelessly lie to serve their own agenda and stay in power. Let’s hope they don’t stay in power much longer.
Parliamentarians – including Trudeau – voted last year for a motion to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization, but have yet to enact it. We need to follow through on this.
The best outcome is for the people themselves to overthrow the regime, as they continue to try to do. Canada and Canadians should help them with this task as much as possible, whenever and however we can.
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