Later last week, before US strike against Iran Nuclear Target, Shaheen Samadi sat in the simple restaurant at Silver Lake Azizam, drinking Ceylon tea with cardamom, a drink that reminded him of the tea he grew up with.
Born to parents who immigrated to the United States after the Iranian Revolution, Samadi moved to Los Angeles in hopes of establishing connections with his Persian diaspora community, the largest in the world outside of Iran. Samadi described himself as a “Persian rapper in your friendly neighborhood” and has long criticized the Iranian regime in his music. He felt fear and anger last week when Israel and Iran carried out deadly attacks.
“At present, the entire Iranian expatriate community is in a strange stage of combat, flight and cruel anxiety,” Samadi said. Samidi, who sat near the Azizam counter, said the server was walking back and forth with Baba inside bags and Horisht’s plates. “We like to see [the Iranian regime] Killed. What we don’t like is the casualties that come with it. ”
Azizam – Which era’s restaurant critic Bill Addison will be The 101 Best Restaurants in California – Start hosting free tea and backmon on the terrace facing the boulevard, with the hope of providing Iranians with a safe space to relax and get together. As Samadi explains: “Most people, their bodies are filled with blood – with us Persians, this is tea.”
“Whether you are all, half or fractions, you are still Iranian,” the restaurant Instagram posts Wednesday. “Azizam was born to celebrate this and our doors are open to everyone.”
All week Iranian locals have been finding solace in restaurants like Azizam and restaurants like tehrangeles in Los Angeles that provide much-needed space to communicate with their culture. While many of them worry about family and friends in Iran, they also hope that as Iranian Americans they can bridge the decades of gap.
Sal Mousavi, who first visited Azizam on Thursday, said many menu items “remind me of home” and the event helped him “focus on what happened, not what happened.”
The dice were thrown in Azizam’s Backmon match.
Aubtin Heydari said family members were visiting Iran last week and drove 48 hours to Armenia for safety. (Alex Golshani/Era)
Like many Iranian Americans in Los Angeles, Samadi did not tolerate Iran’s leadership and his parents fled the country. But he said the Persians in the United States remained divided in the conflict between Iran and Israel and now between the United States.
Samadi said of the Persian diaspora in Los Angeles: “I hate to say that, but it doesn’t feel like a community.
Israel has launched air strikes in Iran since June 13 Kill at least 657 people. Iran immediately retaliated against air strikes that killed at least 24 people in Israel, including Go to the hospital Thursday in southern Israel.
The U.S. enters a conflict on Saturday Strikes to Iran’s nuclear facilitiesAuthorized by President Trump.
“Many Iranians, especially those living in Los Angeles and living in diaspora, are very unhappy with the current regime,” said Peyman Malaz, chief operating officer of PARS Equality Center, a nonprofit that supports Persian immigration. “But, of course, war is war…so what we hear from the community is the feeling of fear and anxiety, and uncertainty.”
“Just see the names of all the communities I’m in… bombed. It’s so surreal. It feels like a dream – more like a nightmare.”
– Adrian, visitors to Azizam
Adrian refused to name his last name and immigrated to Los Angeles from Tehran in 2011.
“My thoughts were very focused and I could hardly fall asleep at night,” said Adrian, a family member living in Tehran. “Just seeing the names of the communities I grew up in all these places… All of these places, they were blown up. It was so surreal. It felt like a dream – more like a nightmare.”
“In times like this, I want to reduce intellectual debate and have more connections with my community,” Laila Massoudnia said.
Azizam’s Tea and Bamon. (Alex Golshani/Era)
at the same time tehrangeles – Westwood’s Persian community became a hub for immigration fleeing the Iranian revolution in the 1980s – Store owners reported the fear of Persian customers.
“They are very worried right now,” said Ali Perkdas, owner of the Persian grocery store Super Sun Market, which opened 20 years ago. “[The Iranian government] Cut the internet so they can’t connect with family or friends. ”
Laila Massoudnia, who recently moved to Los Angeles from the Bay Area, said she was shocked by the enthusiasm she found and her supportive community.
“If anything, in all the events that have happened in the past week, no matter what background we bring, I’ve seen a lot of unified fronts here,” Massoudnia said. “I didn’t grow up in one America with a lot of Iranians in one community, so have to have this world. It doesn’t make me feel lonely. I know a lot of Iranians are inside and outside, feeling very, very, very, very isolated and lonely.”
“Whether you are all, half or scores, you are still Iranian,” Azizam said in an Instagram post.
(Alex Golshani/Era)
Many Iranian Americans want to make a peaceful solution abroad. Massoudnia stressed that even during the war, the Iranians (she described as “all about love” people” were the same as those of actually other Americans.
“No one wants to be born on the road of missiles and bombs,” Masoodnia said. “These people have ambitions, dreams, hopes, wake up every day, go to work every day…hope their kids to go to college and get an education…they struggle the same as everyone or anyone else’s mind.”
