As conflict between Israel and Iran escalates, Canadians with ties to region watch anxiously

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 19, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Harlan Abells was expected to beryllium heading connected a travel to Israel connected Friday. Instead, he's been checking with friends who unrecorded determination to marque definite they're safe.

"I mean, it's scary. It's astir bittersweet to deliberation that it's not thing new," said Abells, president of the Winnipeg-based Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada. 

"I've been fortunate — my friends that I bash person determination person been OK so far."

The latest struggle betwixt Israel and Iran began past Friday, when Israel attacked Iran with a barrage of airstrikes that killed apical subject officers and targeted atomic and rocket sites, raising the imaginable for an all-out warfare betwixt the 2 bitter Middle East adversaries.

Iran has retaliated by firing missiles and drones astatine Israel. 

An Iranian quality rights radical based successful the U.S. estimates astatine slightest 585 people, including 239 civilians, person been killed successful Iran. At slightest 24 radical person been killed successful Israel.

As the struggle stretches toward the extremity of its archetypal week, many successful Canada person been watching closely.

Abells recalled an speech helium had with a person surviving successful Israel Tuesday morning. 

"He virtually said to me, like, 'define OK' — you know, he's like, 'My bedroom's a weaponry structure truthful I don't person to tally successful the mediate of the night,' but helium doesn't enactment successful his chamber 24/7," said Abells. 

Winnipeg's Belle Jarniewski, meanwhile, heard first-hand details astir a missile onslaught successful Bat Yam, Israel, wherever astatine slightest six radical were killed, from a person who lives successful the city. His flat is conscionable a 10-minute locomotion from an country hit, she said. 

"What he's seeing and however shocking it is… it truly hits location erstwhile it, you know, erstwhile it's idiosyncratic that you cognize precise well, and erstwhile you've been determination and seen the place," said Jarniewski, the enforcement manager of Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada.

"And it's precise frightening, due to the fact that I don't cognize what Iran is susceptible of doing successful the adjacent future."

Hoping for change

Arian Arianpour, a assemblage organizer and erstwhile president of the Iranian Community of Manitoba, said cipher wants to spot "their nation's infrastructure turned into rubble."

But Arianpour said helium thinks this struggle was inevitable. For him, the worst-case script is simply a prolonged war. 

"That is not bully for the radical of Iran, nor for the radical of Israel, nor for the region, nor for the full world," said Arianpour from Ontario, wherever helium present lives. 

"The champion enactment astatine this constituent is to guarantee that the planetary community, done efforts that impact the Iranian people, dismantle the regime's apparatus and determination forward, enactment connected a modulation process and commencement a caller epoch for Iran, Iranians and each Middle Easterns."

Arianpour said portion helium believes Iran's theocratic authorities volition yet fall, what happens aft matters.  

"I deliberation during the modulation process it's precise important to not lone impact the radical of Iran, but to guarantee that those who are being progressive are the representatives of each Iranians," helium said. 

Jarniewski sees an accidental for alteration successful Iran too. 

"I deliberation we've seen a batch of activism," said Jarniewski. "Particularly from women successful Iran, but others arsenic good successful the past mates years, opposing, precise bravely opposing, the regime."

WATCH | Canadians anxiously ticker Israel-Iran conflict:

A cardinal origin galore are watching intimately present is what U.S. President Donald Trump volition bash next. 

Earlier this week, Trump demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender" successful a societal media post, and warned Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the U.S. knows wherever helium is hiding, but said determination were nary plans to termination him, "at slightest not for now." 

In a recorded speech, Khamenei, 86, said "the Americans should cognize that immoderate U.S. subject involution volition undoubtedly beryllium accompanied by irreparable damage."

Global Affairs Canada said past Friday afternoon it's advising Canadians to debar each question to Israel "due to the ongoing hostilities and unpredictable information situation."