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On Friday, July 31, members of Toronto’s Iranian community gathered at Dundas Square to protest the Iranian regime’s ongoing executions. Earlier that week, on July 28, authorities in Isfahan publicly hanged two young men—Abolfazl Sepahi, 23, and Amirhossein Safari, 28—using a construction crane as a gallows in Alikhani Square.

Both had been arrested during the January 2026 protests and sentenced to death. The public hangings, carried out at dawn. sparked immediate outrage among Iranians in the diaspora and inside the country. Residents in Isfahan gathered near the site in protest to the executions, chanting against the regime.

Security forces responded with tear gas, force, and reports of snipers. Unverified accounts claim that a female protester named Anahita Azar was killed during the crackdown. X accounts that openly support the regime have denied this claim.

🚨A young woman, Anahita #Azarshab, come to protest against the hangings of protesters, was killed by #IRCG who shot her with a Kalashnikov AK-47. Anahita was killed overnight in #Isfahan, during protests against the execution sentenced to death by the Iranian regime.🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/Cb4FbCL3wR

— David Black Mamba *חי* (@OranjeNassauJr) July 30, 2026

“King Reza Pahlavi! King Reza Pahlavi!”

Chants calling for the Shah of Iran filled Dundas Square on July 31 at a rally to raise awareness of the ongoing executions in Iran. pic.twitter.com/m4NhHoPTve

— Scarlett Grace (@ScarlettGrace92) August 4, 2026

Several hundred Toronto Iranians and their allies filled Dundas Square with chants of “Javid Shah!” (“Long live the king”) and “Stop executions in Iran!” The crowd waved Iranian Lion and Sun flags alongside Canadian, American, and Israeli flags. Images of Reza Pahlavi, who represents hope for Iran’s future, along with portraits of his father and grandfather—the figures representing the dynasty that gave Iran its golden age of progress—were peppered throughout the crowd.

“Freedom for Iran!”

📍 Dundas Square, Toronto — July 31 pic.twitter.com/wKbAdKaPIc

— Scarlett Grace (@ScarlettGrace92) August 1, 2026

The demonstration in support of freedom for Iran and peace in the Middle East drew a small group of counter-protesters—fewer than half a dozen—brandishing Palestinian flags and the flag of the Islamic Republic, a regime responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Iranians seeking basic rights. Their presence drew anger from the much larger crowd.

“Parchame felestino bokon to koonet!”

Iranians chanted “shove the Palestinian flag up your a**” at supporters of the Islamic Republic and “Palestine” last night at Dundas Square. pic.twitter.com/6GKjcOZL7N

— Scarlett Grace (@ScarlettGrace92) August 1, 2026

Among the counter-demonstrators was the social media figure known as “Russian Lilly,” who danced in the street with the Islamic Republic’s flag draped across her back. In Iran, a woman risking public dancing without a hijab, let alone in shorts, faces arrest by the morality police; many Iranian women have been beaten or killed for far less.

Russian Lilly danced in Dundas Square with the flag of the Islamic Republic on her back.

If she did this in occupied Iran, the “morality police” would apprehend her and do unspeakable things to her. Iranian women have died for much less. Yet she supports the very regime that… pic.twitter.com/B0eF3UASFw

— Scarlett Grace (@ScarlettGrace92) August 1, 2026

Although the uprising in Iran has quieted down and strikes are not constant, the innocent citizens who only protested for the very rights we have in the west, are still being executed. And the mainstream media is silent.