Among Middle Eastern diasporas in the United States, there is growing discontent with the major parties, fueled by the American response to the unrest in their home countries. How do these communities view the presidential race? Last stop: Tehrangeles, in Los Angeles, the heart of the Iranian-origin population.
The California metropolis is home to the world’s largest Iranian diaspora, estimated at around half a million people and established since at least the 1970s. Its epicenter is Tehrangeles, one of Los Angeles’ many ethnic enclaves, and is located on the city’s west side. At the intersection of Westwood Boulevard and Wilkins Avenue, a sign indicates that we are entering Persian Square, named in 2010 to honor the community’s historical contributions.
All along Westwood Boulevard, the Iranian presence takes the form of restaurants and shops offering Persian specialties, but also service offices offered in English and Persian: a notary, a real estate agent, a language school… On the walls, many stickers, posters and slogans denounce the Islamic Republic of Iran or support the Women Life Freedom movement, which broke out after the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 in Tehran at the hands of the Iranian morality police.
Yet talking politics with the neighborhood is difficult. Questions about the upcoming U.S. elections, or the Women Life Freedom movement, are met with silence or pronounced distrust. “I don’t talk politics,” he says to Duty a carpet merchant in a firm tone. “I will vote for [Donald] Trump. That’s all I can tell you.”
A little further on, a grocer is a little more open, although he refuses to give his first name or have his picture taken. For him, the Women Life Freedom movement is a symbol of hope. “I think it’s going to change,” he says in impeccable French. “Democracy in Iran is just a matter of time. And when the regime falls, it’s going to bring huge changes throughout the Middle East.”
The Last Chapter
A view shared by Roozbeh Farahanipour, owner of three restaurants on the main thoroughfare of Tehrangeles. The businessman sits on the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and knows many of his colleagues on Westwood Boulevard. He is also a staunch opponent of the Islamic Republic.
According to him, the death of Mahsa Amini “was a wake-up call for the community. [Certains]especially those who still believed that this regime could be tolerated, have understood that it cannot be reformed at all,” he insisted in an interview with Dutyseated at a table in one of his restaurants.
Mr. Farahanipour was a leading figure in the 1999 student protests in Tehran, among the most violent in the country’s history since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. His arrest and subsequent death sentence forced him to leave the country and flee to the United States as a political refugee in 2000.
The 2022 protests reflect, in his eyes, the same fed-upness with the system that drove him to activism in his youth. “It opened a new chapter in history. It’s the last chapter of the regime,” he believes.
“A lot of Iranians who hadn’t paid a lot of attention to Iranian politics in recent years, or in their entire lives, were suddenly very interested in Iran,” says Kevan Harris, a sociologist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has published a book and numerous articles on Iranian society.
Inevitably, such a political situation punctuated by calls for demonstrations in Iran, but also in its diaspora in the United States, “politicized several of them,” he explains. “But it is also not reasonable to expect that it is the entire diaspora, or even the majority. Not everyone is very politicized or aware of the politics of the country of origin.” Since 2022, a good number of them have also “returned to their daily lives as Americans,” observes Kevan Harris.
Americans first
Similarly, Kevan Harris doubts that the Women Life Freedom movement will have an impact on Iranian-Americans’ choice in the upcoming US elections. “People are likely to vote for the same reasons as other Americans: social, economic, domestic and foreign policy measures.” [dans leur ensemble]. »
Right now, there is a more Democratic than Republican bias in this community. A survey conducted by Lake Research Partners for Iranian American Democrats of California and released last year found that 45 percent of respondents were Democratic voters, and 18 percent were Republican. A quarter of them (24 percent) chose not to affiliate with any party.
“There’s nothing unique to Iranians” in these numbers, Harris points out. “There are better studies of this kind on other Asian communities in the United States, like the Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos. When you look at their political allegiances, [les chiffres] are almost the same.”
Community First
Roozbeh Farahanipour sees similar trends in her community. “It’s the same in the American population. In every family, you’ll find people who are ultra-conservative, and others who are more left-leaning, more progressive.”
And while the Women Life Freedom movement may have sparked renewed community engagement in Iranian politics, he too doubts it will have an impact on the November election. “The president of the United States should not be chosen based on his view of the world, or of Iran. Why should the American president have a narrow perspective on Iran or put the interests of the Iranian people ahead of the interests of the American people?”
That’s not to say Mr. Farahanipour isn’t skeptical about the U.S. posture toward the Islamist regime. He points to the Vienna nuclear deal with Iran, signed by Democratic President Barack Obama in 2015. “I was against that deal. But when the Trump administration tried to walk away from that deal, I was against it, too. The damage is done, so why walk away from a deal that’s already been signed?”
The businessman is among the quarter of Iranians in California who have no political affiliation. “I believe that every human being must first take care of his community. Politics is local. We must start with our community first, but keeping in mind that the planet is a bit like a big village. We must open the dialogue.”
With Julien Forest
This report was financed with the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund-The duty.