Event Date: March 27, 2023 - 2:00pm to 3:30pm
Location: FSS 4007

Registration: Eventbrite

Presented by CIPS

The Islamic Republic of Iran has seen large-scale street protests since September 2022. As a result, the regime is now in a more vulnerable domestic position than ever. To start planning for an eventual post-Islamic Republic transition, a group of human rights activists and opposition leaders came together recently to form the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom in Iran. Three of the Alliance’s leaders – Nazanin Boniadi, Hamed Esmaeilion and Abdullah Mohtadi – will join us on Monday 27 March to discuss their work.

The event will take place in English.

Speakers:

Dr. Hamed Esmaeilion was born on March 12, 1977 in Kermanshah, Iran. He earned a degree in dentistry and has published a number of novels that have earned him literary awards. Hamed lost his wife and daughter who were aboard Ukrainian flight PS752 that was shot down by IRGC missiles over the skies of Tehran on January 8, 2020. Since the tragic loss of his family, Dr. Esmaeilion has dedicated his time to forming the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims in Canada and has acted as the spokesperson of the Association. He has also published his memories in a book entitled, “It Snows In This House”.

Nazanin Boniadi is an Iranian-born SAG and AACTA award nominated actress and renowned activist. She has partnered with Amnesty International since 2008, with a focus on the unjust conviction of Iranian youth, women and prisoners of conscience. Her activism has taken her to the Bundestag, UK Parliament, Canadian Parliament, the Capitol Hill and White House in Washington DC, and the United Nations. She currently serves as an Amnesty International UK Ambassador and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Abdulla Mohtadi is the General Secretary of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan and has been an active proponent of a free and democratic Iran for over five decades. During the 1979 Islamic revolution, Mohtadi was a key figure in boycotting the constitutional referendum in Kurdistan and played a pivotal role in opposing Ayatollah Khomeini’s military attacks against the Kurds in 1980. Mohtadi has worked tirelessly to unite all Kurdish political parties, culminating in the formation of “The Center for Cooperation of Iranian Kurdistan” in 2017, which played an important role in the recent Woman, Life, Freedom revolution.

Introduction:

Ali Ehsassi has served as the Member of Parliament from the Toronto riding of Willowdale since 2015. He is a member of the Liberal Caucus, and currently serves as the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament. Prior to being elected he practiced as a lawyer in Toronto and Washington D.C., specializing in International trade and arbitration law. He received his B.A. from the University of Toronto, attended graduate school at the London School of Economics, before receiving an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School and an LL.M. from Georgetown.

Moderator:

Thomas Juneau is associate professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. He was an analyst with Canada’s Department of National Defence from 2003 to 2014. He tweets @thomasjuneau.