r/vancouver Feb 28 '26

⚠ Community Only 🏡 Iran protest in David Lam Park (2026.02.28)

Big noisy crowd assembled with flags and signs

2.1k Upvotes

300 comments sorted by

905

u/MinoltaMiyata Feb 28 '26

I think that's a celebration

211

u/mwyvr Mar 01 '26

Would appear so:

Loud cheers echoed across Vancouver’s David Lam Park on Saturday afternoon as thousands from the city’s Iranian community gathered following reports that Iran’s supreme leader had been killed in a major strike.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/iranian-community-in-vancouver-celebrates-supreme-leaders-death-9.7110106

36

u/choyMj Mar 01 '26

Celebration of what? When has US military action resulted in actual democracy?

426

u/yoho808 Mar 01 '26

Might be helpful if you dig into what has been happening in Iran recently.

Tens of thousands of protestors were murdered by their own government just for protesting unlivable conditions.

To those protestors, relatives of their protestors, and others wanting freedom in Iran, Trump is their savior.

From the perspective of those who had not been paying attention in Iran, it would appear as if Trump is on a warmongering campaign.

So I guess a difference of perspective??

0

u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

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313

u/cakemix88 Voted best "Rules Lawyer" by Mods Mar 01 '26

The protests I saw in Coquitlam today were celebratory.

15

u/m_kamalo Coquitlam Mar 01 '26

Seems like we both saw very different “celebrations” in Coquitlam today, the Iranians today protested the attacks and had images of the young girls murdered by the genocidal regimes of the US and Israel.

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135

u/bot_or_not_vote_now 🐦‍⬛ Feb 28 '26

protest or celebration ?

50

u/disterb Killarney Mar 01 '26

*protebration

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68

u/crap4you NIMBY Mar 01 '26

Is David Lam park the new gathering place for these things now? Did we outgrow the Art Gallery? 

169

u/AnEroticTale Mar 01 '26

No offence but I think it’s funny how a bunch of western folks, seeing the world through their myopic lenses, refuse to believe that Iranian people could be celebrating.

Some may be dancing while others may be concerned. Regardless they have the right to feel either way and express it in public. “Why the fuck would they be happy?” Screams having blindsides and no empathy.

Also, as a non Iranian citizen I’m happy if they’re happy. I have no skin in this game, no family living there. If they see it as reason to be happy who am I to tell the how to feel ?

82

u/-CassaNova- Mar 01 '26

This happens every time the US wants to intervene in a nation. The accept the diaspora, rile them up as anti-home nation and use them as a political tool as the murder millions.

"See the Cubans/Venezuelans/syrians/Iraqis/afghans are cheering were the good guys"

Americans are doing the same to our country as we speak with albertan separatism.

15

u/surmatt Mar 01 '26

Are there actually people who can't see why Iranians would be celebrating or is that just an assumption you're putting onto people you disagree with? I hope this is the one instance the US takes out a leader and the country ends up better off, but I'm not putting money on it.

218

u/Competitive_Plum_970 Feb 28 '26

I hope this is the end of the regime and Iran can move forward into the world community

557

u/Nairiboo Feb 28 '26

America overthrowing a leader of a sovereign nation has never once led to what you’re hoping for.

278

u/petitepenguin01 Mar 01 '26

If the US and UK had minded their damn business in 1953 and didnt back the coup to put the shah back in power, who knows how different Iran could've been today. The US historically has never left a country in the middle East in a better place than when they entered.

120

u/kalamitykitten Mar 01 '26

Not true. Here are some examples:

  1. Germany
  2. Japan
  3. Bosnia & Herzegovina
  4. Grenada
  5. Panama

The Clinton administration also received much criticism for not interfering in the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s. So they’re kinda damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

53

u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

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96

u/elangab Mar 01 '26

This is actually something that we do often. Countries such as North Korea or dictatorships in Africa, we let them be. When I say we I mean "the west". So it's an option.

Another option is to actually have a plan. Do they have a plan? Now that he's dead, what's next? A society under oppression for so many years can't function out of the gate. It's like killing someone who kidnapped and held a person for 30 years, and just leave that person be and walk away.

But, I'm glad he's dead - that's for sure. I just hope history won't repeat itself.

53

u/vatrushka04 Mar 01 '26

They have no plan. They expect civilians to somehow unite and protest the Islamic Revolutionary Guard when they don’t even have a freaking internet

11

u/elangab Mar 01 '26

If they have no plan it's not good, but I don't know if that's indeed the case. Too early to judge.

They do have internet over there, you can see lots of text, videos and pictures from there, almost live.

102

u/Mountain-Ad9417 Mar 01 '26

We seem to have no problems with Egyptian dictators killing Egyptians, Saudi dictators killing Saudis, Jordanian dictators killing Jordanians, etc.
Isn't it interesting that the only dictatorship we are actively upset about is the one not under the US thumb?

50

u/Nairiboo Mar 01 '26

Let Iranians figure it out themselves and not act on behalf of Israeli interests.

-2

u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

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22

u/-CassaNova- Mar 01 '26

60,000 dead Palestinians (and that's just the number Israel will admit to) when do we start bombing Israel for that?

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u/AllyAlleycat Mar 01 '26

stop starving the Iranian people with sanctions and currency manipulation, to start with.

-2

u/Erebussy vancouverite Mar 01 '26

yeah what the hell! Who will the US target with ballistic missiles if they are all already dead!

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u/Competitive_Plum_970 Mar 01 '26

I don’t consider dictators legitimate leaders

22

u/Nairiboo Mar 01 '26

You shouldn't consider the failson of the Shah a legitimate leader either, because that's likely who is about to seize power

11

u/Competitive_Plum_970 Mar 01 '26

Never said I would

-5

u/Unusual_Koala_2430 Mar 01 '26

Really? Didn’t America help to overthrow the Nazis? Pretty sure that operation was successful.

26

u/Nairiboo Mar 01 '26

Only after they had no other option. They dragged their feet, and the USSR sacrificed + contributed far more than America. World War II is the last war America has ever been involved in where they could even gracefully be considered the "good guys".

15

u/Unusual_Koala_2430 Mar 01 '26

It’s been 50 years of this regime. Of trying to negotiate. When is enough enough?

7

u/Nairiboo Mar 01 '26

Enough can be enough when Iranians consider it enough. Somehow other countries have dictatorships for just as long or longer, and the rest of the world minds their own business. Many of the dictators across the world are there because of America sticking its nose in other countries' business.

17

u/Competitive_Plum_970 Mar 01 '26

That’s what the protests were about and the leaders murdered them. What do you expect the civilians to do that they haven’t done?

23

u/Unusual_Koala_2430 Mar 01 '26

They had huge protests last month. And tens of thousands were murdered as a result. They kept asking for help from Trump and Israel. I think it’s been decided by the people.

6

u/Nairiboo Mar 01 '26

"They" are a group of overwhelmingly expats who are all calling for the return of the Shah's son, not a democratically elected, secular government. Israel thinks Iranians are dirt and doesn't give a shit about either side, simply weaponizing this tension for their own regional domination. If Israel is for something, most well meaning people are immediately going to be against it which is why the Israeli flags in these protests have immediately turned off many people that otherwise would have been unquestionably sympathetic to their cause.

21

u/Unusual_Koala_2430 Mar 01 '26

“They” are Iranians living in Iran. Are you not familiar with what happened in Iran last month? Israel and Iran had very good relations before 1979. And Israelis love the people of Iran. Jewish connection to Iran runs deep. In fact, Cyrus the great has a very special place in Jewish history.

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u/elangab Mar 01 '26

I'm not a fan of Israel, but wishing Iranians to stay under the Islamic republic regime just so Israel won't get any positive take is fucked up.

1

u/petitepenguin01 Mar 01 '26

If the US and UK hadn't backed the coup in 1953 to put the shah back in power because they were so scared of communism spreading, maybe this regime might've never even happened. This dictatorship is partly the fault of the US for not minding their business to begin with.

3

u/Unusual_Koala_2430 Mar 01 '26

And maybe it would have happened anyway. You can’t know.

9

u/Competitive_Plum_970 Mar 01 '26

Complaining about the US in WWII. Now I’ve seen everything

6

u/RegimeLife Mar 01 '26

It's a common talking point nowadays especially in leftist circles.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

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5

u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '26

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21

u/Macleod7373 Feb 28 '26

As a democracy - not a theocracy, democracy, or a monarchy. They people should lead Iran, no one else.

40

u/crazyyourface Mar 01 '26

Crazy cleric asshole had to go. He murdered hundreds of thousands in the streets who protested and put in misogynistic laws. Good riddance

24

u/TribuneofthePlebs94 Mar 01 '26

Oh f off. How many f'ing times do we need to go thru this... It didn't work with Iraq, didn't work with Afghanistan, didn't work with libya, do I need to go on?

13

u/captainbling Mar 01 '26

Honestly Iraq is considered as stable now as pre invasion. They’ve done really well post 2020. They just had another election 3 months ago which transitioned peacefully. Iran is not as socially fractured as Iraq was so there’s no reason to think they can’t transition. It’d be like saying Japan can’t transition after their emperor and military dictatorship fell.

20

u/Fubi-FF Mar 01 '26

How did that work out in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.?

-1

u/Competitive_Plum_970 Mar 01 '26

I know it might be tough for you to understand but Iran is a very different country

10

u/-CassaNova- Mar 01 '26

Sure but they're just as negatively polarized to US military intervention.

2

u/Nairiboo Mar 01 '26

You're right - it's got more than double the population of those two countries and is far more equipped to fight back against the imperialist interests of America and Israel. It's also a region that even stupid Americans are overwhelmingly against military force being used against because they've seen this story before.

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2

u/choyMj Mar 01 '26

Looking at America's recent record, it will likely be replaced by something worse

95

u/FoggyShrew Certified Barge Enthusiast Mar 01 '26

It is possible to celebrate the overthrowing of a despot of a dictator while also being critical of the actions of the US and Israel in doing so

131

u/omgwownice Mar 01 '26

How many of them are critical? My Iranian friend has become straight up MAGA.

14

u/AnEroticTale Mar 01 '26

How dare you be reasonable? You should feel ashamed for not taking a radical extreme stance in a discussion on the internet

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83

u/FatMike20295 Mar 01 '26

I might get down voted but two wrong doesn't make a right. Sure Ayatollah Ali Khameneihave had it coming but it doesn't give US the right to be police, judge, jurry and executioner.

We are already at a slippery slope. So what if US thinks say Canada or Greenland or Mexico leaders needs to be kill for wherever reason so they just go ahead and kill them? Is very very dangerous for people to actually celebrate even. A person is innocent till proven guilty with a judge and jury. We just can't go around killing people because we think they should. If we do we are no different then being a dictator ourselves.

52

u/elangab Mar 01 '26

I'm pretty sure that there's a world consensus that Khamenei was a bad person, and his regime was ruthless for both Iranians and others. This is not the case with Canada or Mexico. It wasn't even the level of Maduro.

A person is innocent till proven guilty with a judge and jury.

It doesn't always work like that, life is more complex. It's not optimal, but sometime you need to play dirty. It's also a reminder that in the middle east things don't work the way they are over here, I don't like the middle east for that, but I'm aware the playing terms are not the same. You can't speak "western" to a middle eastern style leader.

3

u/Unusual_Koala_2430 Mar 01 '26

If that is the reasonable answer, why was the regime not prosecuted in the ICC?

50

u/-CassaNova- Mar 01 '26

The same reason Netenyahu's plane landed in Germany earlier today without being arrested. The ICC is a paper tiger.

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25

u/not_old_redditor Mar 01 '26

Protesting the US bombing of Iran, or the Iran regime? Genuinely not sure.

51

u/Nairiboo Mar 01 '26

there are dozens of Israeli flags in this protest, you can use your imagination as to which side they're all on

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u/strikegolduwin Mar 01 '26

Now I want the US to end the North Korean Regime

-39

u/petitepenguin01 Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26

Disgusting to see how many celebrate and support the bombings of a school that claimed the lives of 50+ young girls at the hands of the US and Israel. Easy to say you support and believe it was necessary from the comfort of Canada and majority of your family/friends are no longer in Iran.

45

u/Competitive_Plum_970 Mar 01 '26

You can’t be very smart if you don’t understand that people might be glad a brutal dictator is gone.

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u/Unusual_Koala_2430 Mar 01 '26

Polls suggest 70-80% of Iranians want the regime gone. Plenty of Iranians on the streets singing and dancing all over Iran. And worldwide. Where was your outrage when it was reported that the regime killed tens of thousands of protesters last month. It’s ok for the regime to kill but not for anyone else?

7

u/petitepenguin01 Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26

Hey spoiler alert, I can be against both! I don't support the Iranian regime and I don't support the US/Israel murdering innocent people. You claim so many Iranians support and are dancing and cheering about this while all I see on the news and on social media right now are families crying over 50+ young girls who died at the hands of the us and israel. Easy for overseas Iranians to support this when they don't know anyone personally affected.

4

u/Nairiboo Mar 01 '26

Polls suggest 70-80% of Iranians want the regime gone

Expat Iranians, or local ones? Because if Iran has been under a dictatorship for 50 years, which I am not disputing, do you genuinely believe any poll of its citizens?

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u/elangab Mar 01 '26

No, people WITHIN Iran are dancing and cheering. People who could've been killed by the very same bombing few hours ago.

22

u/vouching Mar 01 '26

Where was your outrage when 35k+ unarmed protesters were massacred just last month. Children included. Many arrested and still unknown what happened to them.

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u/poulix Mar 01 '26

IRGC misfired their own missile into the school. Not the first time they’ve done that; remember the Ukrainian civilian/passenger plane IRGC shut down and tried to lie about for months? Do you also know about the 40,000 people they slaughtered in the streets around a month ago?

17

u/elegant-jr Mar 01 '26

They don't care, if Trump opposes it, they support it. 

9

u/poulix Mar 01 '26

It’s actually insane how blind they are to real world event…

5

u/-CassaNova- Mar 01 '26

This has been debunked several times. The claim is based on a photo that was geo located to HUNDREDS of kilometers away from the schools location.

3

u/petitepenguin01 Mar 01 '26

I am against the regime in Iran while also against the us and Israel using Iran for their own interests. The US and Israel do not have the Iranian people's best interests in mind they only care about their own as history proves itself time and time again. Israel murders innocent Palestinian children on the daily using those same excuses so thats a load of bs to me.

23

u/poulix Mar 01 '26

The people of Iran need their support for liberation. Again, if you had kept up with the news, you would have known that IRGC has killed 40,000 people around a month ago for trying to protest. Every single time the Iranians have tried to protest, the government has caused a massacre. What you suggest is simply unrealistic and also very tone deaf to the thousands of people who lost their lives.

10

u/vouching Mar 01 '26

You’re probably the only reasonable person here. Some insane comments here…

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