Canada's Deafening Silence on Iran's Regime Change Movement
While internet blackouts grip Iran as millions protest, another form of silence echoes from Ottawa—an intellectual blackout where the Canadian government refuses to explicitly endorse the Iranian people's call for regime change in Tehran. This hesitation stands in stark contrast to the bravery displayed by protesters on the streets and the Iranian diaspora, including those chanting anti-regime slogans in Toronto.
Ottawa's Tepid Response to Iranian Uprising
The Canadian government has issued statements commending "the bravery of the Iranian people" and condemning "the killing of protestors." However, these carefully worded declarations stop short of supporting the uprising's fundamental goal: uprooting the Islamic Republic. Even amid reports of thousands of casualties, Canada offers little more than diplomatic platitudes, failing to align with the clear demands from within Iran.
Historical Policy Failures and Diplomatic Missteps
This reluctance likely stems from core assumptions about Iran that Canadian leaders have long embraced, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. The current protests fundamentally challenge the notion that diplomacy alone can achieve meaningful change in Tehran.
This premise guided Canadian policy as far back as 2015, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau endorsed the nuclear deal that preserved much of Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Trudeau portrayed the accord as a diplomatic triumph, maintaining this conviction even when:
- Tehran used sanctions relief to fund terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah
- Protests in 2017, 2019, and 2022 were suppressed with bloodshed
- Iran shot down Flight PS752 in 2020, killing 176 people including 85 Canadians
- Iran violated the nuclear deal, nearing nuclear weapons capability by 2025
Even after the 12-Day War in June that debilitated Iran's nuclear facilities, Prime Minister Mark Carney asserted that "an opening for diplomacy" had emerged, seeking another agreement that would provide Tehran an economic lifeline during unprecedented weakness.
The Iranian People's Clear Message
The Iranian people have consistently demonstrated their understanding that Tehran never intended meaningful reform. In current and previous protests, Iranians have urged the regime to direct resources domestically rather than to Gaza and Lebanon—a clear rejection of Tehran's foreign aggression.
Ottawa has yet to grasp this reality even as the regime displays its true colors through violent suppression. Carney appears flatfooted, seemingly unable to accept that no opening for constructive diplomacy has ever existed with the current regime.
The Path Forward for Canadian Policy
Canada must recognize that true change will emerge through the collective efforts of the Iranian people, who seek democracy rather than new diplomatic deals. Tehran will never provide genuine reform because it contravenes the regime's core Islamist identity.
The current uprising has planted seeds for the regime's eventual fall by:
- Wholly discrediting the Islamic Republic
- Accentuating the failure of Tehran's economic and environmental policies
- Demonstrating that Iranian women will never accept mandatory hijab laws
- Debunking the notion that moderates exist within the regime
These developments reveal the fragility of a government lacking vision for Iran's prosperity. Canada must exploit this fragility through a new policy supporting regime change—not as a pipe dream, but as a long-overdue acknowledgment of facts on the ground.
Iranians seek to know where Western nations stand in one of the Middle East's defining contemporary struggles. Ottawa should end its truth blackout and unequivocally embrace the Iranian people's cause for democratic change.
