Some members of Edmonton’s Iranian community are hopeful for the future, following U.S. and Israeli military action in the nation this weekend.

The two countries launched attacks against Iran Saturday as part of, what U.S. President Donald Trump described as, an ongoing operation to overthrow Iran’s government. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who held his post for 36 years, was among the Iranian leaders killed in Saturday’s strikes.

Payman Parseyan, a former president of the Iranian Heritage Society of Edmonton, called the unfolding events in Iran “unbelievable.”

“This is the first time in two months that I’ve seen a smile back on the faces of the Iranian community,” he told CBC News Saturday. 

“Fourty-seven years, we’ve been waiting for this opportunity to take back our country, our homeland, from an occupying force that is propagating terrorism and hostility and instability in the entire region, which has spread to our lives here.”

The initial strikes came after members of the Iranian community across the world have called for the end of the Islamic Republic government, which took control of the country following the 1979 Iranian Revolution — a movement in which Ayatollah Khamenei played a key role.

Iran has fired retaliatory strikes against Israel and several Persian Gulf countries. After the conflict entered Day 2 Sunday, the U.S. reported its first casualties of the conflict.

For Parseyan, in Edmonton, it’s upsetting to see Iran in turmoil, he said, but it is providing hope for Iranians at home and abroad.

“The people of Iran seem to be less upset than we are about it,” he said. “The last bit of communication that we were able to see from our immediate family members — they told us, word for word, ‘Don’t be worried. For us, this gives us hope.’”

Behnam Arbabi, owner of Lotus House of Kabob, a restaurant in Edmonton, is glad to see international intervention in Iran, because he believes it can improve the lives of his family living in the region, including his mother and brother.

“I talked with my brother, I talked with my mom,” Arbabi told CBC News Saturday. “They all want the better life. We are not fighting for huge dreams; the basic things are really hard to get in Iran.”

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney hasn’t yet publicly commented on the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, nor has Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand. But in a joint statement Saturday, they backed the military action.

Anand said in a statement that Canada “strongly condemns the attacks of the Iranian regime against our partners in the Middle East.” 

Carney also said Saturday that Canada is not participating militarily, and the federal government was “not party to the military buildup or planning.”

Canadians are advised to avoid all travel to multiple countries in the Middle East. In a new statement Sunday, Anand said the federal government has deployed surge consular support to the surrounding region to help Canadians overseas.

Parseyan said he hopes the federal government can begin to play a role in the Iranian people’s self-determination.

“There’s a glimpse of light in this 47 years of darkness. I can’t recall having this feeling ever.”

A rally in support of an Iranian regime change was scheduled for 1 p.m. MT Sunday at Sir Winston Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton.