York Regional Police officers are investigating a homicide in Markham after a man was found dead inside his residence.
Police identified the victim as 58-year-old Mohammad Mehdi Amin Sadeghieh.
Sources told Global News said he was an activist who had attended protests against the Iranian regime.
“He was a great, kind person,” said his friend Sohaila Zarrabi, who said Sadeghieh was part of a group that protested Iran’s hardline clerical government.
Photos on Sadeghieh’s Facebook page showed him at events holding signs, including one that compared Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards to the Nazi SS.
Police said they were called to the home north of Toronto at around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday for a wellness check.
Officers found the victim dead inside the home.
Investigators were trying to find a black 2015 Honda CRV, with licence plate BNEV 917, which they believe was connected to the homicide.
“We are actively looking for that vehicle,” Const. Andy Pattenden told reporters.
Zarrabi said Amin had fled Iran about 20 years ago and had helped organize a demonstration in Toronto supporting the U.S. drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the leader of the Quds Force, the branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that supports terrorist groups such as Hezbollah.
He has also called for Canada to add the Revolutionary Guards to its list of proscribed terrorist groups.
She said the police should investigate whether the death was linked to his activism.
“This should be investigated by RCMP,” she said.
— With files from Catherine McDonald.