“Very terrify

Arash Ghadri cannot forget the moment his wife awakened her tears to tell him that the war has just begun.

Ghadri, a 35 -year -old PhD student at Alberta University, and his wife traveled last month to Iran To visit their family members. The couple was still there when the conflict between Israel and Iran erupted on June 13.

He said in an interview: “(on) the first day of the war, we heard some bombings and heard the planes that fly to the ground. It was very terrifying.”

He said about their experience in Zanan, a city located about 300 km northwest of Tehran: “There were members of the family of my wife, her brother and her children, and they were crying … the noise was very terrifying.”

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Gardy is one of the many Iranians who live in Canada and who were affected by the war that broke out when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and senior military leaders, and Iran responded with its own strikes. A ceasefire was announced on Tuesday, after the United States fired at the main nuclear facilities in Iran.

Earlier this week, Tehran said 606 people in Iran were killed in the conflict, with 5332 people. At least 28 people were killed in Israel and more than 1,000 people were wounded, according to officials in that country.

Ottawa urged the Canadians in Iran to leave if they could do so safely, noting that its ability to provide the consulate services in the country is “very limited.”

Ghadri said that he and his wife decided to leave Iran through the Land border crossing after canceling all flights at the beginning of the conflict. They traveled seven hours in a car before crossing to Türkiye. All local trips in Türkiye were completely seized for several days, so they had to take many buses between Turkish cities for 28 hours to reach Istanbul.

He said about the long journey: “I no longer feel my legs.”

He and his wife eventually flew to Edmonton from Istanbul via Paris and Toronto, and landed on June 23.

He said: “I was happy on the way, on the one hand, at least my wife and I am safe now.” “On the other hand, I was feeling bad because my little brother is still in Iran, and my father is there.”

Sarah Shani, president of the Iranian Student Association at Alberta University, said that she is aware of about 15 students at the school who were suspended in Iran during their visit to their country.

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She said: “They are stuck at home and … since the ceasefire, flights have resumed technically, but they are still very limited.”

Shani said that some of 500 Iranian students at the university are already facing financial difficulties because their families at home are unable to support them – either because they lost income and assets during the conflict or because they are unable to transfer money to Canada.

She said: “When stopping the Internet’s operation in Iran … it made it very difficult for families to send money, moreover, many companies were closed during the war,” she said.

“Some have been destroyed by Israeli air strikes … The economy in Iran is now weaker than before.”

Shani said that she is having difficulty contacting her family in Iran during the war.

She said: “Many of us do not know whether our families are safe.”

Iran is a noticeable source of international students in Canada, as government data showed that more than 8,000 study authorities have been approved for students from this country in 2023.

“Most Iranian students in Canada have left our home only to study here, so our relations with Iran are still very strong,” said Shani, who came to Canada in 2023 to follow a master’s degree in computer science.

“Our families have returned there and emotionally believe that we are still in Iran.”

Ali Najati, president of the Iranian Student Association at Hambar College in Toronto, said that society also has mixed feelings about strikes against the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which “is still a source of repression of the Iranians inside and outside Iran.”

He wrote in a statement: “Many of us feel a feeling of relief to weaken this violent arm of the regime. We were hoping to see justice served in the courtroom, to expose the full range of their crimes and hold them accountable through international legal channels.”

“We also realize that the war is never a desirable path. Many of our members are concerned about the consequences of escalating more escalation.”

And copied 2025 Canadian press