A massive human chain spanning Vancouver to the North Shore was seen on Saturday afternoon in support of the ongoing protests and calls for revolution in Iran.
From West Vancouver to North Vancouver, Stanley Park and downtown Vancouver, rally attendees formed a human chain on both sides of the sidewalk in the Lions Gate Bridge and Stanley Park Causeway areas.
Thousands of people participated, and Vancouver police issued a warning that traffic in the area was expected to be impacted.
Global News asked one of the organizers why it’s important to be rallying.
“It’s a complicated question. We have family in Iran. We all escaped the oppression (there) that we are seeing year after year,” said Soushiant Zhanghanehpour, one of the organizers of the rally.
“We are doing this to bring justice back to Iran.”
The event is part of a larger coordinated effort across the world, where human chains are expected in more than 200 cities, including Edmonton, Halifax, Toronto and Ottawa.
The events are organized by an association created with the families of the victims of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752.
The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims is a registered non-profit organization created to unite grieving families, keep the memories of the passengers alive, and most importantly, seek justice.
On January 8, 2020, Flight PS752 was shot down with two missiles only three minutes after takeoff from Tehran’s IKA airport.
After three days of denial, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps finally admitted that the Boeing 737-800 was brought down by its missiles.