Mourners in Winnipeg demand justice from Iran on 3rd anniversary of downed Flight PS752

Around a hundred people gathered at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg on Sunday to remember the 176 people killed three years ago after Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was shot down by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

"I didn't know any of the victims personally, but I have cried with their families for three years," Arian Arianpour, president of the Iranian Community of Manitoba, told CBC.

"One hundred and seventy-six people were murdered, so all those who were responsible must be held accountable."

Iran said it "misidentified" the plane as a "hostile target." Canadian officials said its forensic examination found Iran hasn't provided a credible explanation of how and why the plane was shot down and identified a series of omissions by Iranian authorities that caused a dangerous situation. 

Sunday's memorial was a way to commemorate the 176 lives lost and honour the people being killed during the current political unrest in Iran, as well as all lives lost since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, he said. Ceremonies were held in cities across Canada for the victims, whose families have been fighting for justice ever since.

Eight Winnipeggers died in the crash, and one of them was Bahareh Hajesfandiari. She was killed alongside her husband Mohammad Mahdi Sadeghi and 10-year-old daughter Anisa Sadeghi.

Fakhereh Mirrashed, a friend of Hajesfandiari, was at the memorial event. She said mounting pressure on the Iranian government is nearing a tipping point.

"No government can stand against this many young people," she told CBC. "Sooner or later, they have to come to their senses to negotiate [or] Iran will not stand anymore."

'Enough is enough'

Arianpour said the event is still an emotional topic for many, three years later.

"Still, because no justice has been served, people are in a mourning stage," he said. "As people chant on the streets of Iran: it's not time for mourning — it's time for fury."

An unprecedented level of international support is being shown for political protesters in Iran, who are currently "on the streets fighting with their bare hands for their basic rights," said Arianpour.

He said he has never been more hopeful about the fall of the Iranian regime.

"The situation in Iran is not normal…. Any human rights violation happening anywhere in the world is a human rights issue."

"Enough is enough."

Mayor of Winnipeg Scott Gillingham spoke at the event and said the downing of the plane continues to impact people in the city.

"There has to be justice. There has to be truth."

Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew also attended the event, and said the situation in Iran cannot be tolerated any longer.

"I fear, unless we take concrete action globally today, we will witness successive generations of Iranian people standing up to assert their rights, only to look abroad for allyship and to be left wanting."