Winnipeggers with Iranian ties concerned, unable to reach loved ones
CBC
As hundreds of thousands joined another week of massive demonstrations across Iran, Alireza Niazi says it is devastating to be half a world away in Winnipeg while trying to find answers about his mother days after she was injured during a protest in Tehran.
He and his sister — both of whom are living in Canada — have tried to get in contact with their mother, but reaching her since Thursday has been impossible.
"She couldn't breathe and I was trying to calm her down [over the phone] and that was the point, that the internet cut down," Niazi, 30, told CBC News on Sunday.
Internet and phone lines in Iran have been cut off — a communications blackout that came in the midst of massive demonstrations rattling the foundations of the Islamic state.
The anti-government protests began as a strike over Iran’s failing economy but have become widespread across the country challenging a decades-old theocratic government.
An intensifying crackdown on the demonstrations has left at least 530 people dead and many more injured. Niazi said his mother is among them.
"My mind is everywhere," he said fearing for her mom's health condition.
"This blackout is horrifying," he said. "Please bring back the internet to the people so we can talk to them."
This is not the first time Niazi has watched from afar, seeing the streets of Iran filled with protestors pleading for a change in the regime he says has curtailed freedom for decades.
But he said every time demonstrations have been shut down with hundreds of deaths, often more than those officially reported.
Now he is keeping up with the situation in his country with videos shared online — some via satellite.
"This is something huge, that it's just not happening in Tehran," Niazi said. "Everywhere they are killing people … I'm trying to echo their voice."
He has reached out to politicians at the federal and provincial levels of government in hopes the protests in Iran can be acknowledged. But he said the response has been limited and many in Winnipeg's Iranian community are on edge.
"Nobody is doing well. Everyone is in such a devastated situation," Niazi said.
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