Prince Pahlavi calls on diaspora to press leaders 'until the fall of Islamic Republic'
Iranian exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi urged Iranians living abroad on Wednesday to intensify political advocacy and public campaigning, saying their recent mobilization had helped shift international opinion toward supporting Iranians.
In a message posted on social media, Pahlavi asked supporters to contact lawmakers and decision-makers in their countries of residence and push them to maintain support.
"In the challenging days and weeks ahead, your role in maintaining this support is crucial until the disgraceful rule of the Islamic Republic comes to an end," he said in a video message to the Iranian diaspora.
He also urged them to emphasize Iran’s territorial integrity, insist that Iranians should determine the country’s future political system, and press for maximum precautions to prevent harm to civilians.
He called on the diaspora to engage with media and civil society groups to convey the Iranian people’s demands, and to take part in demonstrations in the coming days and weeks.
“A heavy burden of destiny rests on all our shoulders. And together, we will walk this path until the final victory,” Pahlavi concluded.
York Regional Police said officers responded shortly after 3 a.m. on March 1 to reports of gunfire at a commercial plaza north of Toronto, where investigators found damage consistent with multiple rounds fired at a business. The building was unoccupied at the time and no injuries were reported.
Surveillance footage shows a suspect dressed in dark clothing exiting a dark-colored sport utility vehicle before fleeing the scene, police said.
The targeted business, Saliwan Boxing, is owned by Salar Gholami, an Iranian-Canadian political activist and Canadian cruiserweight boxing champion who has organized demonstrations against the Islamic Republic across the Greater Toronto Area in recent months.
The shooting came hours after supporters gathered at the gym and elsewhere in Toronto following US and Israeli military strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, events that drew large crowds waving Iran’s Lion and Sun flag.
“Seventeen bullets in the middle of Toronto,” Gholami told Iran International. “This is not just about the Iranian community anymore. It’s about Canadians.”
Gholami said the gym is used by families, teenagers and children and could have been occupied when the shots were fired.
“Our gym is just a regular gym. Girls, teenagers, kids,” he said. “The shooting at the gym... is so dangerous.”
He said he believes the attack may have been intended as a warning linked to his activism, though police said no motive has been confirmed.
York Regional Police acknowledged concerns within the community that the incident could be connected to broader geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Investigators said they are working with policing and intelligence partners and reviewing all available evidence, including the possibility of politically motivated or transnational elements.
Canadian intelligence officials have previously warned that Iranian state actors and their proxies have targeted dissidents abroad, including individuals living in Canada. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has said it has disrupted potentially lethal threats linked to foreign interference operations in past cases.
Former Canadian Justice minister Irwin Cotler, for example, was previously the subject of an alleged Iranian plot to kill him on Canadian soil.
Gholami said he has remained in contact with police following the shooting but expressed concern about security arrangements, saying he was told additional protection would need to be arranged privately.
“We came here for freedom,” he said. “Canada must protect its citizens. I’m Canadian too.”
Despite the attack, he said he intends to continue organizing demonstrations.
“I will not give up,” Gholami said. “They may be able to take my life, but they cannot take our honor.”
Iran International contacted Public Safety Canada to ask whether additional protections are being considered for Iranian-Canadian activists amid concerns about transnational repression. The department did not respond before publication.
