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Candle vigil set for Iranian Embassy – Metro US

Candle vigil set for Iranian Embassy

Iranian-Canadians and others concerned about the violent aftermath of the elections in Iran will hold a candlelight vigil at the Iranian Embassy on Saturday.

Demonstrators are expected to travel from Toronto for the event, and the Ottawa end of the organization is being handled in part by Farnaz Farrokhi, an assistant to Conservative MP Mark Warawa and an Iranian-Canadian who was born April 1, 1979, the same day the Islamic Republic of Iran was proclaimed.

“My family fled Iran in the 1980s and I can’t stay silent any longer,” Farrokhi said, adding her family and friends have been taking part in vigils back home in Vancouver.

While she’s working her connections on Parliament Hill, working especially closely with Conservative MP John Weston, the government liaison to the Persian and Iranian community, a lot of the organization is being done by word of mouth and the social networking sites that have been so crucial in spreading the news from Iran itself.

“We’re doing it very Iran-style. We’re using Facebook, we’re using Twitter,” Farrokhi said.

Demonstrators, she says, are being asked to leave flags and other signs of political affiliation at home and simply bring candles for a quiet, civil demonstration: “We want to keep away the politics and just think about the people of Iran.”