Thousands rally in Vancouver in solidarity with Iranian protesters

Vancouver Police estimate that about 15,000 people were in attendance

Feb 01, 2026 

Thousands gathered in Downtown Vancouver on Sunday to show solidarity with protesters in Iran, who have been fighting against the country’s financial collapse and the regime that led to it.


Protesters met at the Vancouver Art Gallery plaza to demand the fall of the Islamic regime.

They marched in the streets across parts of downtown, many waving the lion-and-sun flag of Iran, which is now banned in the Islamic Republic. Others chanted for freedom and held up photos of missing and deceased relatives. Their goal, they said, is to keep international attention focused on the humanitarian crisis.

Among them was Sahand Jamshidi, who said his cousin, Mohammad-Hossein Jamshidi, died during a protest in Iran.

“People were out protesting peacefully [in Iran] and totally out of the blue shots were fired,” said Jamshidi who is currently based in Surrey, B.C. “Lots of teenagers, lots of dads, lots of moms were killed.”

A U.S.-based human rights group says more than 49,500 people have been detained in Iran, and more than 6,000 killed as the regime cracks down on its citizens.

Jamshidi said his cousin came from a small village where everyone knew each other and frequently gathered for celebrations.

Sahand Jamshidi holds a photo of his cousin, Mohammad-Hossein Jamshidi, who he says lost his life during a protest in Iran. (CBC)

“We met during wedding parties. I know who he was, how innocent he was.”

“This is a big, huge loss and he will never be back to his family. All I can do is tell people here what’s happening. Many people here have lost relatives back home,” Jamshidi said.

Vancouver Police Department said about 15,000 people attended the rally and that there were no major incidents.

It was one of several protests held in the city and across the country over the past several weeks. On Sunday, more than 100,000 people gathered in Toronto, shutting down a swath of the city's downtown.

Nationwide protests have been shaking Iran for weeks. They started Dec. 28 in response to soaring prices, then turned into wider anti-government protests against the clerical rulers who have governed the country for nearly 50 years.
Iran's Khamenei warns any U.S. attack would spark 'regional war'

U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Iranians to keep protesting while he weighs military intervention in Iran.

On Sunday, Iran's supreme leader warned that any attack by the United States would spark a "regional war" in the Middle East.

The comments from the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are the most direct threat he's made so far as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and associated American warships are in the Arabian Sea, sent there by Trump after Tehran's crackdown began.

Some at the Sunday rally in Vancouver said they support Western intervention in Iran.

But Keivan Rafi, one of the protestors, says many Iranians now feel abandoned.

Protesters gathered outside the Vancouver Art Gallery to demand the fall of the Islamic regime. It's one of multiple protests against Tehran's crackdown that have taken place in Vancouver and across the country over the past weeks. (CBC)

“People in Iran went out with hope that the international community was behind them, but now they feel betrayed,” he said.

Rafi is calling for international support to stop the violence in Iran. He says he hasn’t been able to speak directly with his mother for weeks due to a nationwide internet blackout.

“Indirectly someone calls my mom, then someone calls me, but I haven’t talked with her,” he said. “It’s exhausting. If something happens, we have no way of knowing.”

Many protestors voiced their support for Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last shah of Iran, who has become a prominent voice spurring on protesters.

The son of the last shah has become a prominent voice in the current anti-government protests sweeping across Iran, despite having lived outside the country for 50 years. For The National, CBC’s Ashley Fraser breaks down Reza Pahlavi’s role and why the exiled crown prince remains a divisive figure.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which relies on a network inside Iran to verify its information, reports that more than 49,500 people have been detained in the crackdown.

It says the violence killed at least 6,713 people, the vast majority of them demonstrators. The Associated Press says it's been unable to independently assess the death toll and arrest figures, due to the internet outage.

As of Jan. 21, Iran's government put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, labelling the rest "terrorists." In the past, Iran's theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.



As a deadly crackdown against anti-government protests in Iran continues, U.S. President Donald Trump said he’s weighing the options for reprimands.

Maryam Davari said she attends the Vancouver rallies every week, rain or shine.

“I am here to support the Iranian people who are fighting against the Islamic Republic,” she said.

Davari said the toll of the situation in Iran has been heavy, but she remains determined.

“We are so desperate. We are waiting for international help,” she said. “I want to tell our people back home that we are here and we have not forgotten them or their sacrifices.”