In Toronto, anti-regime activists have moved to expose government officials they say are living with impunity in Canada. “This man sent me, along with many other students, to prison,” said Ardeshir Zarezadeh, an Iranian-born lawyer from Toronto, pointing to his computer screen. On the website of his organization, the International Center for Human Rights, the photo of Morteza Talaei, the former Tehran police chief and an officer of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), seen in a hallway, at a gym in Richmond Hill, Ont., in January. Since the beginning of the uprising in Iran, Zarezadeh has invited members of the Iranian diaspora in Canada to send him information about relatives of the Iranian regime visiting or living in Canada in order to feature them on his website. There is an expression in Iran that Canada is the regime’s paradise.— Mohammad Tajdolati, Iranian journalist based in Toronto “We all know that many people connected to the Iranian regime live in Canada. They come and go.” “They are taking advantage of life in Canada,” argues the lawyer who spent nearly six years in Iranian prisons for his involvement in student movements. For Mohammad Tajdolati, there is no doubt that the presence of supporters of the Iranian regime in Canada has exacerbated tensions within the Iranian diaspora since the beginning of the uprising. “There is an expression in Iran that Canada is the regime’s paradise,” says the Toronto-based Iranian journalist. Ardeshir Zarezadeh spent almost six years in prison in Iran. Now he is trying to expose those close to the regime who live in Canada. (Radio-Canada) The activist claims he has contacted the federal government several times in recent years to denounce the presence of relatives of the regime on Canadian soil, without concrete action from Ottawa. “They tell us, ‘We know, we’re watching them,’ but that’s not enough. […] That’s why we’re taking matters into our own hands,” he said. On October 29, in a much-anticipated speech to the diaspora, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to maintain sanctions against the Iranian regime and its leaders. A promise that Zarezadeh accepted with skepticism. There’s not much you can do legally, but by recognizing and exposing them, you can get people to cut ties with them or their business.- Marjan “We know there are people in Canada today who have benefited from this horrible and corrupt regime and who are hiding in the middle of the community enjoying the opportunities that Canada offers. They are using the wealth they stole from the Iranians. We say: enough is enough,” he said. Trudeau. He’s not the only one. It was this same frustration that prompted Marjan* (her name has been changed) to begin researching supporters of the Iranian regime in Canada. The young Torontonian fled Iran to escape the crackdown. Radio-Canada has granted her anonymity because it fears reprisals against her or her family still living in Iran. Marjan opened an Instagram account and regularly posts photos and documents to expose people she considers members of the Iranian regime and their families living in Canada. (Radio-Canada/Rozenn Nicolle) After arriving in Canada, she says she distanced herself from her community. The uprising in Iran, however, lit a new flame within her. On the opiran.toronto Instagram account, he is now speaking out against government officials whose families he says live freely in Canada. “When I see these people here, it’s like post-traumatic stress disorder for me. I see them near my house, on the street, I see their children playing freely when I didn’t have that luxury in my country,” he said. “You can’t do much legally, but by recognizing and exposing them, you can get people to cut ties with them or their business.” Even though he understands the anger of his compatriots, Tajdolti worries about the abuses that some of their actions could cause, such as reporting people online. “You have to be very careful because we live in a country of law. You can’t blame someone very easily,” he warns. Zarezadeh says he is aware of the risk of defamation. “We make sure the information we publish is true,” he said, assuring he would continue his fight.
Strong tensions, broken wall of fear
Beyond online complaints, tensions also crystallize within the community. In “Little Tehran,” a neighborhood north of Toronto that owes its name to its large Iranian population, a number of incidents have multiplied since the beginning of the uprising. Across from the famous Plaza Irania, in the heart of the Iranian quarter, a butcher shop has been the target of online vandalism and bullying by netizens who accuse it of having ties to the Iranian regime. For example, graffiti in Farsi saying “death to the mullahs” was painted on the walls of the Imam Mahdi Islamic Center in Thornhill, north of Toronto. The mosque was quick to disavow any political allegiance. The walls of the Imam Mahdi Islamic Center mosque in Thornhill, north of Toronto, were covered in graffiti that read in Farsi, “death to the dictator,” “death to the mullahs” and “down with the Islamic Republic.” The spots were quickly covered with paint, as seen in this image taken shortly after the incident. (CBC) Both the butcher shop and the mosque declined our offer to comment on the matter. In front of the same mosque, however, signs bearing the portrait of young Mahsa Amini, whose death sparked the movement, have been removed, according to a video widely shared on the WhatsApp network. And still in the same place, a motorist tried to run into anti-regime protesters before fleeing and being arrested by police. York Regional Police, which serve the territory, say they are not concerned about a potential increase in hate crimes related to the situation in Iran. However, police say they are aware of the divisions that exist in the Iranian community in the greater Toronto area. According to Tajdolati, tensions have always been inherent in the community, with adherents of the two ideologies living together. What changes this time is that the fear has changed sides, according to the journalist. Mohammad Tajdolati is an Iranian-Canadian journalist who has lived in Toronto for thirty years covering the news of the Iranian diaspora. (Radio-Canada/Rozenn Nicolle) “The people you see on the streets now, before, didn’t come to protests because they were afraid,” he said, explaining that being photographed at an event like this could make it harder to travel to Iran later or could do things. difficult for their families at home. “Now, he continues, the situation in Iran is so horrible, it’s so brutal, so inhumane, that these people are saying to themselves, ‘No, enough. I want to participate, I want to do my duty as a human being, as an Iranian.” “The wall of fear has been torn down.”
