Winnipeg's Iranian community jolted by news plane in Tehran may have been shot down

In the midst of its grief, Winnipeg's Iranian community is disturbed by the revelation that a Ukrainian International Airlines plane that crashed might have been shot down by an Iranian missile.

"I knew the world was not going to be the same as soon as I heard the news," said Rana Abdulla, part-owner of Yafa Café on Portage Avenue.

Reports that the plane may have been shot down make it even worse, she adds, because "those lives have been cut short … and those acts of terror shouldn't be in the world."

Around 6:15 a.m. Wednesday in Iran, Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 crashed minutes after takeoff from the airport in Tehran, Iran's capital city. All 176 people on board were killed, including 63 Canadians.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said intelligence now suggests the plane was shot down by an Iranian missile, perhaps unintentionally. Iranian officials have denied the allegation.

CBC News has confirmed that at least eight people from Winnipeg were among the victims on the plane.

The revelation that an Iranian missile may have been responsible for the crash came Thursday, just as tensions are rising between Iran and the United States.

It started when the U.S. assassinated Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, then escalated when Iranian missiles fired on U.S. military bases.

Gelareh Manghebati — who was born and raised in Tehran but has been in Canada for over a decade — did not originally want to believe the reports that Iran may have shot down the plane.

"The first thing that came to my mind was, 'When is it going to end?'"

Manghebati explains that, when people move to a foreign country, the people in that new community who are of the same nationality become their new family.

"For a lot of people who left their families behind, these [victims] were their friends, or brothers," she said. "They did everything together. They learned how to live here together, they were there when they were homesick."

Manghebati said she did not know anyone on the flight, but added that "it could have been any of us."

Tehran Market & Cafe on Pembina Highway, the only Persian grocery store in Winnipeg, is a hub for the city's Iranian community.

Store owner Maryam Nadmeh said she had seen most of victims' faces come through her door, and knew many of them personally — like Amirhossein Bahabadi Ghorbani, who she met just before his trip to Yazd, his hometown.

Nadmeh said the 21-year-old, who went by Amir, came to ask her about what kinds of foods and groceries he should bring with him on the trip.

"I told him, I'm pretty sure that your mom is gonna pack your luggage with stuff, with food," she said, smiling as she thought back to their conversation.

Nadmeh said the crash has jolted the city's Iranian community — which she said is about 4,000 people — and beyond.

"Yesterday was a very emotional day. All my customers, they were coming in, they said, 'Did you hear the news?" she said.

"It doesn't matter where are you from or what nationality you are. This is a disaster. Even if it was in some other part of the world, still, you feel that ache."

She said she still can't believe how many familiar faces she will no longer see come through her door.

"Last night, I just woke up and I thought, Oh my god. I wished it was a dream. I just wished it's not true. But it is."