Iran

 

I have many friends in the Canadian Iranian protest movement. I was advocating regime change from the mid-1990s. As an elected MP, I openly supported Canadians who worked for regime change. Many of these families had suffered directly from the regime, including the disappearance of their relatives, extortion-based arrests, physical torture, and murder. Over the years, there has been public support of MPs from Conservative, Liberal, and Bloc benches for the unified message of opposition to the Islamic regime that captured Iran in 1979.

The 1979 bloody revolution led to the replacement of the Imperial State of Iran by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The ousting of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, marked the end of Iran's historical monarchy.

The published letter from the Prime Minister is appreciated. Sadly, Canada still has a few Iranian subversive people who are ideologically in the regime’s camp. There is a long history of political factionalism within the expat Canadian-Iranian community. 

Some of the historical markers were the media and political discussion around the Iranian arrest, torture and murder of Zahra Kazemi in 2003, and the forced closure of the Iranian Embassy in Canada in 2012. Canada finally delisted the Mujahedin-e-Khalq PMOI from the official government terrorist list in 2012, as they were the main Iranian democratic opposition movement to the regime, which the Islamists vilified.

On February 28, 2026, Canadian Prime Minister Carney issued a statement.

“The Canadian government is closely following Iran-related hostilities throughout the Middle East and urges all Canadians in Iran to shelter in place. Canadians in the wider region should follow local advice and take all necessary precautions.

Canada’s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons.

Canada and our international partners have consistently called upon the Iranian regime to end its nuclear program, including at the 2025 G7 Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis and with the United Nations’ reimposition of sanctions in September.

Despite diplomatic efforts, Iran has neither fully dismantled its nuclear program, halted all enrichment activities, nor ended its support for regional terrorist proxy groups. Canada stands with the Iranian people in their long and courageous struggle against Iran’s oppressive regime. Canada has listed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity, and has sanctioned 256 Iranian entities and 222 individuals in response to the regime’s repression and its violence both against its own people, and persistently, beyond its borders. Canada reaffirms Israel’s right to defend itself and to ensure the security of its people.

Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security. The Canadian government urges the protection of all civilians in this conflict. We will take all possible measures to protect our nationals and Canadian diplomatic missions throughout the region."

Iran has a violent history. The present regime took power through religious and violent means. During the most recent revolution in Iran from 1980 to 1983, opposition to Islamic values was purged by the government, including massacres. The regime then began to train and financially support terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and other Palestinian groups, such as the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). They were in the process of building nuclear weapons and were close to putting the systems together.

These Iranian leaders have come to their end in a similar violent way to coming to power. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead. The war is on, but it remains unclear whether the political entities that can gain control and perhaps write a new Constitution will be able to bring peace and order out of a history of chaos.

The announcement of a Provisional Government by the National Council of Resistance of Iran to transfer sovereignty to the people of Iran and establish a Democratic Republic based on Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-Point Plan, is encouraging, but they do not have control. We can only hope and pray for the citizens of Iran.