News of supreme leader’s death was like ‘breath of fresh air,’ says Iranian Canadian
Shervin Akhlaghi says when his mom called to tell him that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed on Saturday, it was like “a breath of fresh air.”
Akhlaghi left Iran in 2009 and now lives in Toronto. But he has aunts, uncles and cousins in the region.
“There was a lot of pressure built up, in a sense, that I’ve had friends who lost their lives in the protests, I’ve had family members who were wounded. It was surreal,” he told CBC News Network’s Andrew Nichols.
Khamenei was killed in air strikes by Israel and the U.S.
Akhlaghi said while he understands that it is distasteful to many in the West to celebrate someone’s death, he says, this was different.
“This person is responsible for thousands of murders, executions, tyranny. So many people that I personally know … have been prosecuted by the regime,” he said.
“We have a shot at freedom. Because for the past 40-something years, every time the Iranians tried to do something, they were shot down — because of this person.”