Photo: Courtesy of an anonymous contributor

On June 16, about 40 members of Quebec City's Iranian community protested at Place D'Youville to condemn the latest election results in their native country. Some posed near the Parliament wearing green, a color associated with the defeated candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi.

As the world turns wide-opened eyes toward Tehran, where clashes and riots have erupted almost every day following the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, many members of Quebec City's Iranian community are expressing profound frustration over the situation in their native country.

Ahmadinejad was expected to lose Iran's presidential elections to Mir Hussein Moussavi, the main opposition candidate, but was instead proclaimed absolute winner by the state news agency late on June 12. On the days following the elections, thousands of protesters flooded the streets around Iran, claiming there had been a voting fraud and calling for a new poll. Iranian authorities brutally responded to these demonstrations by jailing opposition members and assaulting or killing demonstrators especially in the country's capital. As the international community condemns Iran's "iron fist", many Iranian citizens are ignoring threats of retribution and continuing to express their disapproval, both on the web and in the streets.

Even though Tehran is thousands of miles away, Quebec City's Iranians cannot help but feel concerned by the recent events in their native country. Some have relatives and friends who live in Iran; others made the trip to Ottawa to vote on election day. "I'm angry, since my vote has been neglected and stolen", mentions Saeed*. "I'm one hundred percent sure that a big fraud has happened."

A group of Iranians from Quebec City, whose members prefer to stay anonymous, also rejects the results. Members highlight many anomalies in the polling process; in dozens of cities, reported participation rates exceeded one hundred percent and votes were solely counted by Ahmadinejad representatives. All agree that if the current president were the real winner of the elections, he would not need to repress citizens.

Having heard fraud rumors, members of Quebec City's Iranian community decided to gather to express their anger and to condemn the latest election results. On June 16, about 40 joined with the voices that have echoed both in Iran and all around the world as they protested at Place D'Youville.

Québec Solidaire's spokesperson and deputee Amir Khadir who was born in Tehran joined the demonstrators to present a motion that had been unanimously adopted at the National Assembly. It expressed "the Assembly's concern about the situation in Iran" and mentioned that the government would support "a transparent investigation on the poll's anomalies." Khadir told TVA that there would be hope for Iranian citizens as long as they would demonstrate in the streets and refuse to bend under the authorities' pressure. Media coverage of the event was reported on Wheresmyvote.blogspot.com.

Even though the recent Iranian elections have had lamentable consequences, members of the community see benefits in the revolt. "For the first time, a spontaneous political movement happened in the Iranian society of Quebec," Saeed says. Members are hopeful that a brighter future awaits Iranian citizens after the turmoil. "Many, even religious people, now believe in a secular democratic system to be established in Iran," the anonymous group points out. "That day is not far away."

* Name has been changed