From celebration to sleepless nights: Windsor Iranians reflect on death of Supreme Leader

Reaction from Windsor’s Iranian community to the U.S. strikes in Iran. Sanjay Maru reports.

For many Iranian-Canadians living in Windsor, the news that Iran’s Supreme Leader had been killed is not just another international headline — it’s a moment layered with relief, trauma and uncertainty.

Three people with ties to the University of Windsor who spoke with CTV News described the same emotional tension: celebration mixed with anxiety, and hope tempered by fear for loved ones still in Iran.

For PhD candidate Elnaz Akhavan Rezaee, that tension unfolded in real time.

As CTV was interviewing the students Monday, her phone rang.

“My mom is calling right now,” Rezaee said, her voice breaking. “She says she’s great. Not just physically but mentally as well.”

It was her first live conversation with her mother since the reported killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei, 86, was killed over the weekend in joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes targeting sites in Tehran, according to announcements from both governments and later confirmation by Iranian state media.

The call came after days of uncertainty and limited communication, as internet disruptions made it difficult for families inside Iran to connect with loved ones abroad.

Rezaee arrived in Canada in December 2020 to pursue doctoral studies. She said her decision to leave was shaped not only by academic goals, but by personal experience.

She was arrested three times by Iran’s Morality Police.

“They didn’t like the way I covered my hair or they would tell you that your jeans are not proper and you need to get in the van,” she said.

While she expressed relief at the latest developments, Rezaee acknowledged the broader geopolitical tensions surrounding the conflict. She said she understands why some communities — including those who strongly support Palestinians — view Israel or the United States critically.

But she hopes people can also understand what Iranians have endured under the Islamic Republic.

“If there is a God out somewhere, I don’t think any God would agree to what the regime did to their own people,” she said, arguing the government does not represent the faith it claims to uphold.

Many Iranian-Canadians also point to reports that more than 40,000 people were killed during recent crackdowns under the Supreme Leader’s rule — figures they say deepened their anger toward the regime.

Several students referenced the 2020 downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 — a tragedy that killed 176 people — as a defining moment.

On January 8, 2020, shortly after takeoff from Tehran, the Boeing 737 was struck by two surface-to-air missiles fired by Iran’s air defence forces, killing all 176 people on board.

Among the dead was 40-year-old Maryam Malek.

Her 29-year-old cousin, Reza Beigpour, began studying at the University of Windsor after moving from Iran in 2023.

“They’ve shown that they can kill people and blame it on someone else,” Beigpour said, adding he hasn’t slept in 48 hours.

“Most of my relatives work in oil refineries. I’m just worried that they’re going to shoot their own refineries and blame it on the U.S. or Israel.”

According to 26-year-old Reza Alirazaee, a recent University of Windsor graduate who moved to Canada as a teenager in 2014, many outside observers overlook Iran’s diversity.

The country is home to Persians, Kurds, Balochs, Azeris and other ethnic groups, as well as Muslims, Christians and Jews, he said, describing it as “one of the starting points of culture in the world.”

What stands out to him now, he added, is the sense of alignment across those communities.

“Seeing all of these people united against this theocracy is beautiful, and it gives us hope,” said Alirazaee.

Since early 2026, Iranian authorities have imposed sweeping internet restrictions amid widening protests and a government crackdown.

Alirazaee said that has made it nearly impossible to hear his friends’ voices directly. While he normally exchanges messages with contacts in Tehran, he said he has been unable to reach them since the latest escalation.

“I pray for them that they’re going to be fine,” he said. “But at the end of the day, they are experiencing immense trauma right now.”

As for Rezaee, the 36-year-old said she did not believe the news of Khamenei’s death was real when reports first came out.

“The fact that this cruel dictator of all time is finally dead, I never thought we would see this day,” she said.

“It’s like getting the news that Hitler has been killed.”