‘We cannot listen to our loved ones’ voices’: Canadians with family in Iran fear the worst

OTTAWA — It has been nine agonizing days since Toronto resident Foad Farhani was able to check in on his father, who is struggling with Stage 4 cancer.

Farhani’s parents, who are Canadian permanent residents, recently travelled to Iran to spend time with relatives.

The Iranian government has since cut off internet access and blocked landlines from placing international calls as protests continue throughout the country.

Iranians started to make their first phone calls to the outside world Tuesday. SMS text messaging was still down, and internet users could connect to government-approved websites locally, but nothing abroad.

The lack of access has caused widespread concern among Canadians like Farhani whose loved ones are stuck there.

“I’m just really worried about them,” he said in a phone interview.

He added he has been desperate “just to hear from them and see if everything is OK,” and find out whether his father’s health remains stable.

The protests in Iran began two weeks ago over the rising cost of living. The demonstrations quickly intensified and expanded, leaving Farhani without enough time to plan his parents’ exit.

He noted that flights out of the country are being cancelled. And though he knows of younger people who are travelling to border areas so they can leave the country via Turkey or Armenia, that is not an option for his ailing father and elderly mother.

Farhani’s young cousins are also on his mind, he said, because they are likely on the streets and vulnerable to violence.

“They would go in the crowd and they participate in the protests, and I’m not sure what’s happening to them,” he said.

Canada has condemned Iran for killing and arresting citizens who are protesting against the government.

In a joint statement issued with Australia and the European Union on Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand praised the bravery of peaceful protesters and attacked Iran’s use of lethal force.

The statement noted that at least 40 people had died at the hands of Iran’s security forces, though activists believe the number of deaths is more than 10 times higher.

“We strongly condemn the killing of protesters, the use of violence, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation tactics by the Iranian regime against its own people,” the statement read.

Prime Minister Mark Carney posted Friday that the reports were “profoundly concerning” and urged Iran to allow for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

On Monday, in his own statement, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre pointed to protests in Canada against the regime.

“Conservatives stand unequivocally with the people of Iran in their fight for freedom against the murderous Khamenei dictatorship,” he said, referring to the country’s supreme leader. He added that Tehran is responsible for “savage crackdowns, executions and decades of brutal repression.”

Mina Askari, another Iranian Canadian, said she would like to see more than just words.

Askari, who also lives in Toronto, said Canada and other sympathetic countries should do what they can to help restore the internet connection inside Iran, so Iranians “can at least contact the world and tell them what’s happening there.”

Like Farhani, she has not been able to reach loved ones for days, including her mother and younger brother.

Askari said the last time she spoke to her mother, she was at a grocery store complaining about the food prices amid skyrocketing inflation.

“She was really, really upset and angry,” Askari said in a phone interview.

Askari added she has been trying to bring her mother to Canada for years, and added her name to the lottery pool as part of a parental sponsorship program in 2020. But she hasn’t received an invitation to submit an application yet.

“She’s sick and I want her to be with me here,” she said. “My brother is studying medicine. He’s a very genius guy, and I’m really, really worried.”

Canada cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012 and Ottawa issued a terrorism designation in 2024 for a branch of Iran’s army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Farhani said he understands the Canadian government doesn’t have a direct line of communication with Iran or any leverage to pressure them directly, but it can at least “acknowledge that this is not fair, this is inhuman, that there’s a blackout” in the country.

“We cannot even talk, we cannot listen to our loved ones’ voices and see if they are alive or not.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 12, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press

Dylan Robertson and Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press