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LOS ANGELES — Southern California has a strong Iranian-American presence. Some estimates say that up to half a million Iranians live here. A neighborhood dubbed the “Persian Square” in West Los Angeles is the center of Iranian commerce here.
Rudaw recently explored LA’s Iranian diaspora community to ask what reaction residents here have to the landmark Iran nuclear deal signed in April between Iran, the US and other powers, and which the administration of US President Barack Obama started implementing Monday.
“Of course it affects us because we are Iranian, we’d like to see the relationship go back to what it was before, that’s wonderful, I think it benefits both sides,” said Home Youn, who left Iran 52 years ago.
“Not just the deal itself, but relations in general for many years have been watched very closely by the community here because you have people who still have family members at home,” said Sarah Parvini, an Iranian-American journalist with The Los Angeles Times newspaper.
“My aunts for example still live in Iran, and a lot of people that’s the case for them, so they want to know are they going to feel more comfortable being able to go back to visit their family, are they going to be able to send money to the family members back home and are things going to be more affordable for their family members who still live in Iran,” she continued.
She added though that despite many in the Iranian community here being optimistic on the nuclear deal, their expectations are still tempered by a mistrust of the Tehran regime.
“People are very much aware of what they are dealing with when it comes to the Iranian government, but they are hopeful that it’s sort of becoming more moderate and maybe one day it will be a more liberal place,” Parvini told Rudaw.
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