It’s been 31 years since Ziba Mashkori left her home country of Iran, and for the first time in a while, she says, she’s hopeful about the future of the country. 

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli military attack on Saturday. He had been the country’s supreme leader since 1989.

Mashkori was one of more than 100 people in downtown Halifax on Sunday who celebrated his death with dances, chanting, music, and speeches. Many held flags of pre-revolutionary Iran, Israel, and the U.S., or held signs supporting Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s last shah.

“Hope came to me,” Mashkori said in an interview. “It rushed into my wings and I was just like, ‘I’m going to go back to Iran.’

“We just couldn’t stay at home. We felt like we needed to be together for that moment.”

Mashkori said the fight is not over, however. The question of what will happen next is up in the air, with a succession plan already in effect, putting senior cleric Alireza Arafi as part of Iran’s interim leadership council. 

“Until we get to freedom every single day, we will remember all those souls that we lost, all those innocent bloods that were shed,” Mashkori said.

WATCH | Iranian-Canadians celebrate in Halifax:

People gather in downtown Halifax following military strikes in Iran

Iranians in Nova Scotia were out on the streets of Halifax, celebrating with music, flags, dances and speeches. This is in response to the joint American-Israeli attack on Iran, which led to the killing of the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The CBC’s Molly MacNaughton has more.

Mashkori left her home when she was only 19 years old because of what was happening in Iran.

She still has family in Iran she has not seen in years. Communicating with her loved ones back home is difficult because of frequent internet service disruptions. 

“I remember what I lost for the past 31 years for being away from home, what was stolen from me personally,” she said. 

Despite the challenges getting in contact with her loved ones, she was able to reach a family member after seeing the strikes this weekend.

“My sister who lives in Tehran, she called me directly from her direct line and just saying very quick words, ‘We are OK, Everything is OK,’”

Soheila Hashemi, another Iranian and one of the organizers for this rally, said she wanted to show her happiness and also shed light on the situation. 

She thanked U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the military action.

“This is not the war against Iranians, this is the war to save Iranian life,” Hashemi said.

However, like Mashkori, Hashemi said this is not the end. 

Iran has elections for president, parliament and the assembly of experts, a branch that chooses the supreme leader. 

However, in its most recent elections, in 2024, there were no internationally recognized monitors to confirm the elections were free and fair.

“We want to stand until the end of this regime and select our own governments elected by the people, not anybody else,” Hashemi said. 

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