He recalls Kazemian using his network of friends, peers and former colleagues to help him find a job and secure financial aid before and during his time at the University of Southern California. And, if Jabbari was ever visiting Washington, Kazemian gave him a place to stay.
“I was just one of many that he helped,” Jabbari said.
Kazemian was a diplomat and a scholar, and to the Iranian community in the D.C. area and beyond, he was known for always being a phone call away, regardless of who was calling and what they needed him to be at the time.
He died Nov. 13 in Bethesda of complications from Parkinson’s disease and covid-19, Md. He was 84.
Born in Shiraz, Iran, Kazemian, was known as a self-made man with humble beginnings. He earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the University of Rhode Island in 1961, and then went on to earn a PhD in economics from American University in 1965, his family said. It was at American that he met his future wife, Naila Aziz Ahmed. The couple left the United States for Karachi, Pakistan, where they married, and Kazemian spent two years at ExxonMobil before they returned to Iran. The move back began Kazemian’s career in higher education policy, during which he served as deputy minister in the Iranian Ministry of Science and Higher Education; his primary focus was stanching the flow of young, educated Iranians out of Iran. During this time, Ahmed and Kazemian had three children.
The family moved to London when he was transferred to the Imperial Embassy of Iran to Britain. Later, the Iranian ambassador to the United States, Ardeshir Zahedi, called on Kazemian to serve alongside him. In 1973, after three years in London, Kazemian and his family relocated to Washington. Kazemian served in that position until the start of the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
With the overthrow of the shah, Kazemian lost his job. But because he and his family had already been living in the United States, they were able to plant roots in Washington and start over. Kazemian worked in imports and exports, invested in residential and commercial real estate and franchised fashion stores and restaurants.
He used his businesses to support his family and pay for his daughters’ educations. And when he was able, he continued to serve the Iranian community in exile, giving people jobs in his franchises and making bicoastal connections.
“His capacity to understand people and relate to them, irrespective of their station in life or their perspective or their culture or their nationality, was really quite extraordinary,” said Parisa Karaahmet, one of his twin daughters. “People really trusted him.”
Kazemian was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 11 years ago, but he had continued working, mentoring and helping people despite his deteriorating health. After a series of falls, he needed multiple surgeries and physical therapy. His family checked him in to ManorCare Health Services in Potomac, Md., for intensive care and rehabilitation in mid-October. No one in the family was allowed to visit, and after a couple of weeks, they were notified that during the facility’s weekly coronavirus testing for all staff and residents, Kazemian had tested positive. He was transferred to Suburban Hospital less than three days later because of difficulty breathing and a fever.
While he was admitted, he still fielded calls from people asking for help, until even speaking was difficult.
“He was trying to make calls from his hospital bed to people who reached out to him,” said Atousa Ghoreichi, his other twin daughter. The hospital had yet to give family members permission to visit, so his daughters regularly spoke to him and the staff, who told them about his phone calls. “He said, ‘When I’m out, I can come over. Let’s talk. I can help you.’ But of course, he never got out.”
Eight days into his stay, the hospital determined a single person could stay with him toward the end of his life. By then, it was too late and he died that night.