How Should We Approach Iranian Relations? The “Tehrangeles” Take

The Westwood and Beverly Hills community, home to the highest concentration of Persians outside of Iran and aptly dubbed “Tehrangeles,” has some ideas on international conflict and ethnic discrimination.

Decades ago, Iran suffered cataclysmic events that forced mass migration to the USA. Now, as Iranian Americans experience unprecedented financial and cultural growth, their country of birth simultaneously confronts an economic nosedive. The juxtaposition of a thriving Iranian American populace and a plummeting Iranian government provides an interesting perspective on their conflicts; “Little Persia” might be the best example of this perspective.

1980s Iran was a political and economic wasteland. Managing the fallout of the previous year’s revolution and struggling against Iraq in their eight-year-long war, the country was falling to violence and revolt. Amid all this brutality stood many thousands of Iranians searching for a place of safety. For most, that place became the USA.

Iranian immigration to America skyrocketed in the ‘80s. This diaspora was full of the wealthy and educated, who believed it necessary to leave the country before further escalation and had the financial means to do so. Massive groups of Persian immigrants formed communities throughout the US. Of all the Iranian American hubs, though, Los Angeles has become by far the most popular. 

Dr. Nahid Pirnazar is a lecturer for UCLA’s Iranian Studies program. Pirnazar immigrated to America before the diaspora and was able to observe it years later while at university. She says that “Los Angeles became a more centralized location for [Iranian Americans]… for the weather first, and then business-wise.” California had a temperate climate, comparatively affordable education, and the largest economy of any state (which is still true to this day); what wasn’t to love?

Many of these newfound Angelinos went straight to Westwood, and this influx grew exponentially as Persians saw an already-built community as the perfect place to settle. Pirnazar explains, “‘Little Persia’ in Westwood really is a place that was mostly created by the older Iranian generation. They needed a place for stores, supermarkets, offices to get passports, or things like that… It was the location with an affordable area for the Persians that first came here.”

Since then, Persians have found success in virtually every aspect of Westwood living, in a variety of positions: real estate brokers to chefs, businessmen to politicians. Iranian American per capita income is far higher than the average citizen, and more than thirty percent have college degrees. Locals believe the current Persian population in Southern California to be about five-hundred thousand, and nearly a tenth of that amount live in Westwood. 

With decades-long experience in both Iran and the United States, Persian-Americans in LA have a unique perspective on the relationship between these two nations that not many else can provide. This wealthy, dynamic group has contributed greatly to Westwood and Beverly Hills, becoming closely intertwined with the history and heritage of the area. 

Signage on Westwood Boulevard, the heart of “Tehrangeles,” often appears in both English and Farsi. Los Angeles, November 17, 2020. (Ben Wasson / News Road)

Some of the city’s oldest remaining culinary and cultural sites are Persian institutions. “It’s wonderful when you go [to a Persian restaurant] and you see that half of the customers there are not even Iranian,” says Pirnazar. “I think Westwood has a very important role in introducing Iranian cuisine to Americans.”

Still, Iranian Americans have maintained a strong connection to Iran itself. The 2009 National Survey of Iranian Americans, released by the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), found that, “More than six in ten Iranian Americans have immediate family members in Iran, and almost three in ten communicate with their family or friends in Iran at least several times a week. An additional four in ten communicate with their family or friends in Iran at least several times a month.” Iranian Americans have not sacrificed their identity in mingling with the United States; they have kept both an optimistic bond to Tehran and an amicable relationship with America that has set the foundation for great intercultural hospitality. 

The relationship of each peoples’ governments does not reflect this hospitality. In 2015, President Obama established the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal), lifting sanctions on Iran in exchange for aggressive limits on the nation’s nuclear output. Despite support abroad, the JCPOA has been domestically controversial since its inception. The Trump Administration has been especially skeptical of the Deal, reversing  American involvement and reinstating sanctions in 2018. After that point, US-Iran relations have devolved into threats and hostility. Washington believes their adversary has exploited and undermined the Deal secretly, while Tehran is adamant about its success. 

This leaves Persian immigrants in an interesting bicultural predicament. Pirnazar notes that “Westwood is the center of a lot of political activities” because of the West L.A. Federal Building on Wilshire, which is one of the oldest edifices in the area, dating back to a full decade before the Shah was exiled. Iranian Americans have shown a profound interest in the well-being of both nations; as tensions between the two governments rise, so do the number of protests. 

In 2009, thousands of Iranian Americans gathered in front of the Federal Building to protest Iran’s previous election, in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won with sixty-three percent of the vote. Many Iranian Americans, some on visas to the States, believed the election to be fraudulent. This followed similarly epic protests in Iran itself, which were neglected and mitigated by Ahmadinejad despite their size, who at the time called them “not important.”

These protestors believed in a democratic Iran, part of a Western-moving trend among Iranian Americans specifically that has yet to see major impacts on the Iranian presidency. 

At the beginning of 2018, an Iranian American movement flared up in opposition to the current regime led by Hassan Rouhani, Wilshire Boulevard at its center. This was again an attempt at exposing corruption and showing support for the lower-class Iranians, who have experienced increasing rates of hunger and poverty. “This is the least we can do to show we’re with them,” said one demonstrator interviewed by the Los Angeles Times. 

In March of this year, hundreds gathered in Westwood to rally against American threats and sanctions against Iran, matching similar protests in Tehran and throughout Canada, another stronghold of Iranian expats. Protestors stated that they worried about potential international conflict, and declared Washington’s actions to be an example of Western imperialism. 

These protests come in the face of government persecution.“Most of the people who have come here are those who have come through asylum, so obviously they’re not happy with the current government,” says Pirnazar. “But there are some people from the Iranian government here, and you always have to be careful, especially in demonstrations and things like that.” 

The American government is equally as ominous in its treatment of Middle East-born citizens. The Trump travel ban imposed by the United States in 2017 was another action in a series of hostilities that seemed to worsen the confidence of Iranian Americans in our federal government. Professor and author Saba Soomekh says, “What I see is that our community has felt the impact of the travel ban imposed earlier this year—as well as other current U.S. immigration policies—in a way that is personal, intimate, and painful… The travel ban feels like a collective punishment against those Iranians who have absolutely nothing to do with the Islamic Republican regime. On the one hand, the Iranian government is restricting their freedom to visit their homeland; and on the other hand, America is not allowing their relatives to travel or move to the United States. They feel like they’re in limbo on both sides.”

But Mojgan Yamini, an Iranian refugee now managing properties in Westwood, says she feels much safer in Westwood than in her country of birth: “Most of us feel at home, and love and appreciate what the state has offered us. America is our country; we love America and are proud to be Americans.” 

Mojgan’s answer puts more trust in both governments than the average Iranian American. Another PAAIA survey from 2019 found, “About seven in ten respondents (seventy-one percent) are concerned about increased discrimination against Iranian Americans given the current environment in the United States, including political rhetoric and actual policies directed at immigrants, Muslims, and Iranians, as well as the tense relationship between the United States and Iran. This figure represents a slight downtick since 2018 and 2017, when seventy-seven percent and eighty-three percent respectively were concerned about increased discrimination, though it is still almost two times the level of concern expressed in 2015 (thirty-nine percent). In addition, and more troubling, sixty-one percent of Iranian American respondents are concerned about their personal safety and the safety of other Iranian Americans in light of the current climate in the United States.”

Though many Iranian Americans feel unsafe, there has not been a consensus on the approach to this issue nor the suffering of Persians living in Iran itself. Much of this disagreement is due to Washington’s strategy in Iran, specifically the sanctions imposed in 2018. Dr. Soomekh explains, “The Iranian American community is not monolithic, and its members differ significantly in their attitudes about U.S. policy toward Iran. Some Iranian Americans favor a hard U.S. line. Particularly among Jewish Iranian Americans, there is a lot of distrust of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and so they support the U.S. and its allies imposing very strict sanctions to rein in the regime’s excesses.”

Indeed, the Iranian American community is split on the prospect of sanctions. Again, from the PAAIA in 2019: “Consistent with last year’s results, the current survey finds that almost two-thirds of Iranian American respondents (sixty-three percent) think it is more likely that the renewed sanctions ‘will harm the Iranian people and increase support for hardliners’ anti-American sentiment.” 

Consistently, about one-quarter to one-third of Iranian American respondents have agreed with the idea that sanctions against Iran will assist in US foreign policy goals in the region. A definite majority exists, but it is still surprisingly common for Iranian Americans to support economic sanctions. 

While the efficacy of these sanctions is debatable, it is a numerical fact that they have damaged Iran’s economy since their implementation in 2018. From 2018 to 2019, Iran’s GDP growth rate fell by more than twenty-two percent. The value of the rial, Iran’s currency, shrank by about three times. As of mid-September, the rial is at the lowest point it’s ever been. 

Yet, many people (including significant portions of Iranian Americans) see economic sanctions as the only available choice, viewing diplomatic solutions as ineffective and military action as an absolute  non-option. The same PAAIA survey says, “Only nine percent (of Iranian Americans) would support U.S. military strikes on Iran, and the opposition to or indecision about such an action is rooted in concern about potential civilian casualties (eighty-three percent) and the belief that strikes will be ineffective and encourage Iran to develop nuclear weapons (sixty-three percent).”

The future of US-Iran relations is unclear, particularly as the incoming Biden administration’s vision for Iranian diplomacy may no longer be feasible in a post-Trump world. From surveys and individual accounts, it appears that Iranian Americans have very mixed feelings on the success of the United States’ administration and the methods it has used to make change in Iran. 

Ubiquitous among this community, though, is the wish for safety and well-being of the Iranian populace. It is perhaps a hopeful statistic that half of Iranian Americans view the guarantee of human rights and democracy in Iran as the most important issue facing the United States, and that foreign policy is the most significant deciding factor in their federal election choices, according to the PAAIA. 

“The Iran government is a dictatorship, a regime,” says Mojgan. “We are all looking for changes in the country soon.”