Latest news with #RoozbehFarahanipour
CNN
15 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Two activists fled Iran for the US. They disagree on the strikes against their home country
Roozbeh Farahanipour saw his name published in an Iranian newspaper — along with a reward for his body, and he knew he was no longer safe, he said. Elham Yaghoubian, a student activist in Iran who co-founded an underground party against the Islamic Republic with Farahanipour had that same feeling when her friends and fellow activists were arrested in 1999. Both fled Iran nearly 30 years ago, fearful for their safety. Both built new lives in Los Angeles, where nearly 141,000 Iranian Americans, according to the US Census, have forged a tight-knit community. But the two activists, who have had such similar paths to the United States, are split on the country's strikes in Iran. Farahanipour, a restaurant owner, had been jailed and tortured for his work as an opposition leader by the time he fled Iran in 2000. He opposes war in the region because he doesn't want to see another 'Afghanistan or Iraq.' Yaghoubian, who works at a language and translation company, supports the attacks, saying they are 'beneficial' for Iran, the Middle East and the world. The US attack Saturday night led to Iran retaliating with a targeted missile attack on the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The strikes, which are part of an escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, have divided Los Angeles' tight-knit Iranian American community, Farahanipour said. One of Farahanipour's restaurants is located on a strip of Westwood Boulevard near UCLA known as Persian Square. Home to many Iranian businesses, the restaurants, bakeries and bookstores are adorned with signs in both English and Farsi. On Sunday, nearly three decades after he saw his name on an execution list and a day after the US strikes on Tehran, Farahanipour stood outside the restaurant with his young son. The pair wore jeans and matching blue polos as they waved the flag of the Iranian diaspora. Immigration from Iran to the US began in the early 20th century and spiked around the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Over 50 percent of immigrants — including Farahanipour and Yaghoubian — arrived in the US after 1994, according to the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies Many Persian residents refer to the Los Angeles area as 'Tehrangeles,' — a mix of Tehran and Los Angeles — according to Bruin Life, a UCLA student website. On Sunday, demonstraters gathered at the federal building in Westwood to rally against the United State's involvement in the conflict. People held signs reading 'No War on Iran,' and 'We won't let you drag us into global war.' Others chanted 'hands off Iran,' and 'Money for jobs and education. Not for wars and occupation.' The recent strikes, Yaghoubian argued, targeted infrastructure belonging to the Islamic Republic. The US attack hit three nuclear sites in Iran: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. 'These infrastructures, roads, factories, buildings, they can rise again, but what we can never recover are the lives of all young men and women we've lost to the brutal regime every time they rise for their basic rights,' Yaghoubian said. War isn't something people wanted, but Yaghoubian believes something good could come out of it — the end of the Iranian regime. The attacks represent hope for a better future, she said. 'No negotiation, no appeasement will bring an end this war. Only with removing this regime from Iran will bring peace and prosperity, she said.' But Farahanipour doesn't think the attacks will free Iran. He has advocated for a secular Iran, and the 'internal toppling' of the Islamic Republic by Iranians. The activist believes the US should not have thrust itself into the conflict. 'Killing the people, regardless in Iran, in Israel, American people, anyone, any civilian or people, they just died, is not an answer,' he said. CNN's Jack Hannah and Lauren Mascarenhas contributed to this report.
CNN
15 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Two activists fled Iran for the US. They disagree on the strikes against their home country
Roozbeh Farahanipour saw his name published in an Iranian newspaper — along with a reward for his body, and he knew he was no longer safe, he said. Elham Yaghoubian, a student activist in Iran who co-founded an underground party against the Islamic Republic with Farahanipour had that same feeling when her friends and fellow activists were arrested in 1999. Both fled Iran nearly 30 years ago, fearful for their safety. Both built new lives in Los Angeles, where nearly 141,000 Iranian Americans, according to the US Census, have forged a tight-knit community. But the two activists, who have had such similar paths to the United States, are split on the country's strikes in Iran. Farahanipour, a restaurant owner, had been jailed and tortured for his work as an opposition leader by the time he fled Iran in 2000. He opposes war in the region because he doesn't want to see another 'Afghanistan or Iraq.' Yaghoubian, who works at a language and translation company, supports the attacks, saying they are 'beneficial' for Iran, the Middle East and the world. The US attack Saturday night led to Iran retaliating with a targeted missile attack on the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The strikes, which are part of an escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, have divided Los Angeles' tight-knit Iranian American community, Farahanipour said. One of Farahanipour's restaurants is located on a strip of Westwood Boulevard near UCLA known as Persian Square. Home to many Iranian businesses, the restaurants, bakeries and bookstores are adorned with signs in both English and Farsi. On Sunday, nearly three decades after he saw his name on an execution list and a day after the US strikes on Tehran, Farahanipour stood outside the restaurant with his young son. The pair wore jeans and matching blue polos as they waved the flag of the Iranian diaspora. Immigration from Iran to the US began in the early 20th century and spiked around the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Over 50 percent of immigrants — including Farahanipour and Yaghoubian — arrived in the US after 1994, according to the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies Many Persian residents refer to the Los Angeles area as 'Tehrangeles,' — a mix of Tehran and Los Angeles — according to Bruin Life, a UCLA student website. On Sunday, demonstraters gathered at the federal building in Westwood to rally against the United State's involvement in the conflict. People held signs reading 'No War on Iran,' and 'We won't let you drag us into global war.' Others chanted 'hands off Iran,' and 'Money for jobs and education. Not for wars and occupation.' The recent strikes, Yaghoubian argued, targeted infrastructure belonging to the Islamic Republic. The US attack hit three nuclear sites in Iran: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. 'These infrastructures, roads, factories, buildings, they can rise again, but what we can never recover are the lives of all young men and women we've lost to the brutal regime every time they rise for their basic rights,' Yaghoubian said. War isn't something people wanted, but Yaghoubian believes something good could come out of it — the end of the Iranian regime. The attacks represent hope for a better future, she said. 'No negotiation, no appeasement will bring an end this war. Only with removing this regime from Iran will bring peace and prosperity, she said.' But Farahanipour doesn't think the attacks will free Iran. He has advocated for a secular Iran, and the 'internal toppling' of the Islamic Republic by Iranians. The activist believes the US should not have thrust itself into the conflict. 'Killing the people, regardless in Iran, in Israel, American people, anyone, any civilian or people, they just died, is not an answer,' he said. CNN's Jack Hannah and Lauren Mascarenhas contributed to this report.
CNN
16 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Two activists fled Iran for the US. They disagree on the strikes against their home country
The Middle East Activism Food & drinkFacebookTweetLink Follow Roozbeh Farahanipour saw his name published in an Iranian newspaper — along with a reward for his body, and he knew he was no longer safe, he said. Elham Yaghoubian, a student activist in Iran who co-founded an underground party against the Islamic Republic with Farahanipour had that same feeling when her friends and fellow activists were arrested in 1999. Both fled Iran nearly 30 years ago, fearful for their safety. Both built new lives in Los Angeles, where nearly 141,000 Iranian Americans, according to the US Census, have forged a tight-knit community. But the two activists, who have had such similar paths to the United States, are split on the country's strikes in Iran. Farahanipour, a restaurant owner, had been jailed and tortured for his work as an opposition leader by the time he fled Iran in 2000. He opposes war in the region because he doesn't want to see another 'Afghanistan or Iraq.' Yaghoubian, who works at a language and translation company, supports the attacks, saying they are 'beneficial' for Iran, the Middle East and the world. The US attack Saturday night led to Iran retaliating with a targeted missile attack on the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The strikes, which are part of an escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, have divided Los Angeles' tight-knit Iranian American community, Farahanipour said. One of Farahanipour's restaurants is located on a strip of Westwood Boulevard near UCLA known as Persian Square. Home to many Iranian businesses, the restaurants, bakeries and bookstores are adorned with signs in both English and Farsi. On Sunday, nearly three decades after he saw his name on an execution list and a day after the US strikes on Tehran, Farahanipour stood outside the restaurant with his young son. The pair wore jeans and matching blue polos as they waved the flag of the Iranian diaspora. Immigration from Iran to the US began in the early 20th century and spiked around the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Over 50 percent of immigrants — including Farahanipour and Yaghoubian — arrived in the US after 1994, according to the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies Many Persian residents refer to the Los Angeles area as 'Tehrangeles,' — a mix of Tehran and Los Angeles — according to Bruin Life, a UCLA student website. On Sunday, demonstraters gathered at the federal building in Westwood to rally against the United State's involvement in the conflict. People held signs reading 'No War on Iran,' and 'We won't let you drag us into global war.' Others chanted 'hands off Iran,' and 'Money for jobs and education. Not for wars and occupation.' The recent strikes, Yaghoubian argued, targeted infrastructure belonging to the Islamic Republic. The US attack hit three nuclear sites in Iran: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. 'These infrastructures, roads, factories, buildings, they can rise again, but what we can never recover are the lives of all young men and women we've lost to the brutal regime every time they rise for their basic rights,' Yaghoubian said. War isn't something people wanted, but Yaghoubian believes something good could come out of it — the end of the Iranian regime. The attacks represent hope for a better future, she said. 'No negotiation, no appeasement will bring an end this war. Only with removing this regime from Iran will bring peace and prosperity, she said.' But Farahanipour doesn't think the attacks will free Iran. He has advocated for a secular Iran, and the 'internal toppling' of the Islamic Republic by Iranians. The activist believes the US should not have thrust itself into the conflict. 'Killing the people, regardless in Iran, in Israel, American people, anyone, any civilian or people, they just died, is not an answer,' he said. CNN's Jack Hannah and Lauren Mascarenhas contributed to this report.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
L.A.'s Iranian community grapples with reactions to U.S. military attack
Roozbeh Farahanipour sat in the blue-green glow of his Westwood restaurant's 220-gallon saltwater aquarium and worried about Iran, his voice accented in anguish. It was Sunday morning, and the homeland he fled a quarter-century ago had been bombed by the U.S. military, escalating a conflict that began nine days earlier when Israel sprang a surprise attack on its perennial Middle Eastern foe. 'Anger and hate for the Iranian regime — I have it, but I try to manage it,' said Farahanipour, owner of Delphi Greek restaurant and two other nearby eateries. 'I don't think that anything good will come out of this. If, for any reason, the regime is going to be changed, either we're facing another Iraq or Afghanistan, or we're going to see the Balkans situation. Iran is going to be split in pieces.' Farahanipour, 53, who'd been a political activist before fleeing Iran, rattled off a series of questions as a gray-colored shark made lazy loops in the tank behind him. What might happen to civilians in Iran if the U.S. attack triggers a more widespread war? What about the potential loss of Israeli lives? And Americans, too? After wrestling with those weighty questions, he posed a more workaday one: 'What's gonna be the gas price tomorrow?' Such is life for Iranian Americans in Los Angeles, a diaspora that comprises the largest Iranian community outside of Iran. Farahanipour, like other Iranian Americans interviewed by The Times, described 'very mixed and complicated' feelings over the crisis in Iran, which escalated early Sunday when the U.S. struck three nuclear sites there, joining an Israeli effort to disrupt the country's quest for an atomic weapon. About 141,000 Iranian Americans live in L.A. County, according to the Iranian Data Dashboard, which is hosted by the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies. The epicenter of the community is Westwood, where the neighborhood's namesake boulevard is speckled with storefronts covered in Persian script. On Sunday morning, reaction to news of the conflict was muted in an area nicknamed 'Tehrangeles' — a reference to Iran's capital — after it welcomed Iranians who emigrated to L.A. during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In some stores and restaurants, journalists from CNN, Spectrum News and other outlets outnumbered Iranian patrons. At Attari Sandwich Shop, known for its beef tongue sandwich, the pre-revolution Iranian flag hung near the cash register — but none of the diners wanted to give an interview. 'No thank you; [I'm] not really political,' one middle-aged guest said with a wry smile. Kevan Harris, an associate professor of sociology at UCLA, said that any U.S. involvement in a military conflict with Iran is freighted with meaning, and has long been the subject of hand-wringing. 'This scenario — which seems almost fantastical in a way — is something that has been in the imagination: the United States is going to bomb Iran,' said Harris, an Iranian American who wrote the book 'A Social Revolution: Politics and the Welfare State in Iran.' 'For 20 years, this is something that has been regularly discussed.' Many emigres find themselves torn between deep dislike and resentment of the authoritarian government they fled, and concern about the family members left behind. Some in Westwood were willing to chat. A woman who asked to be identified only as Mary, out of safety concerns for her family in Iran, said she had emigrated five years ago and was visiting L.A. with her husband. The Chicago resident said that the last week and a half have been very difficult, partly because many in her immediate family, including her parents, still live in Tehran. They recently left the city for another location in Iran due to the ongoing attacks by Israeli forces. 'I am talking to them every day,' said Mary, 35. Standing outside Shater Abbass Bakery & Market — whose owner also has hung the pre-1979 Iranian flag — Mary said she was 'hopeful and worried.' 'It's a very confusing feeling,' she said. 'Some people, they are happy because they don't like the government — they hate the government.' Others, she said, are upset over the destruction of property and death of civilians. Mary had been planning to visit her family in Iran in August, but that's been scrambled. 'Now, I don't know what I should do,' she said. Not far from Westwood, Beverly Hills' prominent Iranian Jewish community was making its presence felt. On Sunday morning, Shahram Javidnia, 62, walked near a group of pro-Israel supporters who were staging a procession headed toward the city's large 'Beverly Hills' sign. One of them waved an Israeli flag. Javidnia, an Iranian Jew who lives in Beverly Hills and opposes the government in Iran, said he monitors social media, TV and radio for news of the situation there. 'Now that they're in a weak point,' he said of Iran's authoritarian leadership, 'that's the time maybe for the Iranians to rise up and try to do what is right.' Javidnia came to the U.S. in 1978 as a teenager, a year before revolution would lead to the overthrow of the shah and establishment of the Islamic Republic. He settled in the L.A. area, and hasn't been back since. He said returning is not something he even thinks about. 'The place that I spent my childhood is not there anymore,' he said. 'It doesn't exist.'
