Hamed Esmaeilion

Hamed Esmaeilion (Persian: حامد اسماعیلیون, born March 12, 1977) is an Iranian-Canadian social activist, author, and dentist.[1] Esmaeilion won Hooshang Golshiri Literary Awards for two of his books, Dr. Datis and Thyme is not Fair.

Hamed Esmaeilion
حامد اسماعیلیون
Esmaeilion during a rally in Ottawa in 2022
Born (1977-03-12) March 12, 1977
Kermanshah, Imperial State of Iran
NationalityIranian
EducationUniversity of Tabriz
Occupation(s)Social activist, author and dentist
TitleFormer President and spokesman of The Association of Victims' Families of Flight PS752
Spouse
Parisa Eghbalian
​
(died 2020)​
ChildrenReera (deceased)
WebsiteTwitter account

Esmaeilion was the president and former spokesman of The Association of Victims' Families of Flight PS752.[2][3] He resigned on 7 March 2023, after announcing he is planning to focus more on Iranian revolution.[4]

Early life and career

His parents were originally from Arak, Iran and moved to Kermanshah where Hamed Esmaeilion was born and grew up. He studied Dentistry in University of Tabriz between 1995 and 2000. Afterwards, he worked and lived in various parts of Iran, such as Golestan, Mazandaran and Tehran provinces for several years. He immigrated to Canada together with his family in 2010 and lived in Richmond Hill, Ontario.[5][6][1]

Literary life

As a hardworking Persian blogger, Esmaeilion began his literary career by publishing two collections of short stories, Thyme is not Fair (2008, winner of Houshang Golshiri Award) and The Canary Owner (2010). He published two novels, Dr Datis (2013, Zavosh) and Gamasiab Has No Fish (2014) which was also awarded the Golshiri Award.[7][8]

Death of his wife and daughter
Main article: Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752

Parisa Eghbalian (Esmaeilion's wife) and Reera Esmaeilion (his daughter), flew with Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 from Tehran to Kiev on 8 January 2020. This flight was shot down by two surface-to-air missiles of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shortly after takeoff,[9] killing all 176 passengers and crew aboard, including Esmaeilion's wife and daughter. This incident happened while Iran airspace should have been closed due to ongoing military activities at the time.[10] This flight which was supposed to take off at 5:15 (local time) was delayed and eventually it flew on 6:12 and was then struck after a few minutes and crashed near city of Parand.[11]

Esmaeilion is one of the founders and was also the president and the spokesman of The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims until March 2023, which he said were trying to "take legal action for this crime" and "commemorate the memory of the dead".[12][13] He was later featured in 752 Is Not a Number, a Canadian documentary film, directed by Babak Payami and released in 2022.[14]

Opposition to Iranian government

On October 1, 2022, Esmaeilion organized a global demonstration against the Islamic Republic for Iranians living abroad, in the wake of death of Mahsa Amini to support Iranian's protests against the regime. These rallies took place in more than 150 cities throughout the world against the Islamic Republic. The largest protests happened in cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, London, Edinburgh, Stockholm, Brussels, Berlin, Rome, Los Angeles, Toronto. It is estimated that in Richmond Hill, Ontario more than 50 thousand protesters attended the rally.[15][16][17][18] Esmaeilion organized another demonstration in Berlin on October 22, 2022 and invited Iranians in Europe to be the voice for protesters in Iran. The number of protesters was estimated at 80,000[19] to 100,000.[20]

In March 2023, he resigned as the president and the spokesman of The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims to focus more on his role in the Iran's "Women, Life, Freedom" revolution.[21]

See also

References
  1. Dr. Hamed Esmaeilion - Aurora E&E Dentistry
  2. ‘Our lives are destroyed’: families take fight for truth of flight 752 to ICC
  3. Families of Flight PS752 victims say RCMP isn't doing enough to help Ukraine's criminal probe
  4. "اسماعیلیون برای تمرکز بر نقشش در انقلاب ایران از سخنگویی انجمن پرواز اوکراینی استعفا داد". ایران اینترنشنال (in Persian). Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  5. نویسنده جسور، دندانپزشک محافظه‌کار/ گپ‌و گفتی با حامد اسماعیلیون
  6. سرنگونی پرواز ۷۵۲ به روایت یک «نویسندۀ نانجیب»
  7. "Hamed Esmaeilion Recommends". Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  8. Shataw Naseri (5 June 2014). "Houshang Golshiri Awards". The Parsagon Review. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  9. "Iran Says It Unintentionally Shot Down Ukrainian Airliner". The New York Times. 10 January 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  10. ‘Recipe for disaster’: Experts say Iran airspace should’ve been closed before attack
  11. "Iran under pressure to explain Tehran plane crash after 176 killed in Ukrainian jet disaster". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023.
  12. خانواده‌های قربانیان هواپیمای اوکراینی: تضمینی وجود دارد ایران به هواپیمای دیگری شلیک نکند؟
  13. حامد اسماعیلیون: با اظهارات نماینده مجلس یکبار دیگر هواپیما سقوط کرد
  14. Nicole Thompson, "In doc ‘752 Is Not A Number,’ Payami seeks to humanize victims of tragedy". Toronto Star, September 11, 2022.
  15. Worldwide Rallies Show Unprecedented Support For Iran Protests
  16. Organizer Of Global Rallies Calls For Expulsion Of Tehran’s Envoys
  17. Global Protests Planned in Solidarity with Iranians
  18. "More than 50K attend Richmond Hill, Ont. protest against Iranian government - Toronto | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  19. "Iran protests: Huge rally in Berlin in support". BBC News. 23 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  20. "Tens of thousands march in Berlin in solidarity with Iran protests". ABC News. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  21. "اعلامیه انجمن در مورد کناره گیری دکتر حامد اسماعیلیون از سمت دبیری و سخنگوی انجمن - The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims / PS752 انجمن خانواده‌های جانباختگان پرواز | PS752Justice" (in Persian). 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
External video
video icon Activist Hamed Esmaeilion fights against the Supreme Leader of Iran and calls for justice for victims of the Flight PS752, CNN Connect.
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