Canada's Iranian community protest for ceasefire
Members of Canada's Iranian community gathered outside the Toronto City Hall to call for a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Protesters told Reuters of their fears for family in Iran, saying that the Iranian people want peace. Israel attacked Iran on Friday and since then the two countries have exchanged blows, with Iranian officials reporting over 220 deaths, mostly civilians, in five days while Israel said 24 civilians had been killed.
Israel says it aims to eliminate what it calls threats posed by Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has pointed to its right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Israel, which is not a party to the NPT, is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that. The air war between Iran and Israel has raised further alarms in a region that had already been on edge since the start of Israel's military assault on Gaza in October 2023.
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)
