Hundreds gather at BC Place in Vancouver to protest Iranian regime

Hundreds of people gathered at BC Place on Saturday to protest the Iranian regime, and to remember the massacre that occurred in 2019.

The event also saw people march through the streets of downtown Vancouver, with many holding signs demanding Iran’s freedom from current rulers.

The 2019 massacre, also know as “Bloody November,” saw over a thousand protesters killed.

Protestors hold up signs on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. (Angela Bower/CityNews)

“When people had an uprising, protesting the rising cost of fuel, the regime started a blackout, an internet blackout, and killed at least 1,500 people in Iran,” Amir Bajehkian, an organizer with the group We Are Masha explained.

“That was basically the beginning of the end,” he added.

Saturday’s demonstration had a dual-purpose, one of remembrance, and also to call for an end to the current killings and violence happening in the country.

Pari Tarvarean says the regime’s actions have affected her deeply, with the death of her brother.

“They captured him for three weeks, they tortured him. They butchered my brother. We received the body, but we had to pay for the bullets, and this broke my soul,” she said.

Hundreds of people gathered at BC Place in Vancouver on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. (Angela Bower/CityNews)

One woman explains that the demonstration is also for the continued fight for women’s rights in Iran, something that has gained global attention since the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Honieh Barzegari says the location of this weekend’s protest was specifically chosen.

“We are at BC Place…our soccer stadium. As an Iranian woman, I was never able to attend a soccer game, because in Iran, women are banned from attending any sports games.”

She explains that in addition to rules related to sports, restrictions for women include passport control.

Many protesters held Iranian flags, handmade signs, or posters. Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022. (Angela Bower/CityNews)

“At age six, we have to cover ourselves from head to toe if we want to go outside. This is not our culture, this is extreme suppression,” she explained.

One protester was seen holding up a photo of Kian Pirfalak, a nine-year-old boy who’s family says he was killed by state security forces this week.

“They shot him and his dad in their car…Kian’s murder was the first time that broke me into tears,” Bajehkian said.

He says Pirfalak was talented and “a child that was full of life.”

Tarvarean says she is optimistic that the current rulers will be removed from power.

“This generation, the new generation, they will finish. They are near the end, and they are paying with their blood every day against these religious dictators, and hopefully it will end soon.”