Behavar moved to Vancouver about six years ago. Back in Iran, she often felt limited by restrictions on women and by a system that made even small goals difficult to achieve. She explained that in Iran, pursuing an opportunity required luck and connections, while in Canada, she found that her only limitation was her own determination.

When she first arrived, she noticed a change in herself. “Here, I am more confident,” she said. “I see that if I want to do something, I can do it. There are no orders, no limitations. The only limitation is your thoughts.”

She and her mother decided to open a restaurant together. From the beginning, they built a space rooted in Iranian hospitality, welcoming customers to experience both the food and culture of their home country. She keeps both the Canadian and Iranian flags close by — one displayed outside, the other inside — as a symbol of balancing her two homes. Customers often share their own travel memories of Iran, and many comment on the kindness and warmth of its people.

“Iranians like a peaceful life. To explain, it might be a sad thing, but it also has a lesson. Some people criticize that: Ok, if people go to the streets without guns and are empty handed, and then the guards come and shoot them and they lost their life, and then are they stupid. Why don't they carry guns with themselves?”

“I have memories that people would even go and give flowers to the army and ask them to join them. During these 44 years, there were great moments like this that I remember. Now I hear on the news that this method is working because many army people do not support the government anymore. Even though it’s very hard because they might get the death sentence if they don’t obey, they risk their life because they don’t want to kill their own people to support the regime. People could send their message to the army, and now the borders are more clear between the people and the government. People choose life. The government chooses death. Life always wins.”

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Even while she has built a new life in Canada, the unrest in Iran is never far from her mind. She recalls memories of people peacefully protesting, sometimes carrying flowers instead of weapons, even when faced with violent crackdowns. For her, those moments show the courage of a people choosing life in the face of oppression.

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“I wish this life for all the women in Iran. Because life should not only be about surviving – it should be about truly living.”

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