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Later last week, before the US attacks Iran’s nuclear targets, Shaheen Samadhi sits in the minimalist dining room at Azizam restaurant on Lake Silver and drinks Ceylon tea with a drink reminiscent of the tea he grew up drinking.
Born in Connecticut to parents who moved to the United States after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Samadhi moved to LA in the hopes of connecting with the world’s largest Persian diaspora community outside Iran. Samadhi, who describes himself as “a Persian rapper in your friendly neighborhood,” has long criticized the Iranian regime for his music. Last week he felt horribly angry as Israel and Iran traded deadly attacks.
“Now, the entire Iranian diaspora community is at this strange stage of fighting, flying and crippling anxiety,” said Samadhi, sitting near the Azizam counter as the server walked back and forth on the plates of barbalipan and horesht. “We want to see [the Iranian regime] Be killed. What we don’t like is the accompanying victims. ”
Restaurant critic Bill Addison recently named one of California’s 101 best restaurants, Azizam began hosting free tea and backgammon on his patio heading towards the cozy Sunset Boulevard in the hopes of providing Iranians with a safe space to relax and come along. As Samadhi explained, “Most people, their bodies are filled with blood. With our Persians, it’s tea.”
“Whether you’re full, half or just a little, you’re still Iranian,” read the restaurant’s Instagram post on Wednesday. “Azizam was born to celebrate it, and our doors are open to all.”
Local Iranians have been finding comfort for a week in restaurants like Azizam and neighbourhoods like Tehlangeles in LA. Many of them fear Iranian family and friends, but as Iranian-Americans, they hope to be able to close the decades of gap.
Sal Musavi, who visited Azizam on Thursday, said many of the menu items were “reminiscent of the house,” and the event he said “focused on something other than what was going on.”
The dice is rolling during Azizam’s backgammon match.
Aubtin Heydari said his family visited Iran last week and was driving safely in Armenia for 48 hours. (For Alex Golshani/Due to the era)
Like many Iranian-Americans in LA, Samadhi does not tolerate Iranian leaders. His parents fled the country to escape. However, he said the Persians in the US remained divided in the escalating conflict between Iran, Israel and now the US.
“I hate to say that, but it doesn’t feel like a community,” Samadhi said of the Persian diaspora in LA.
Since June 13, Israel has launched airstrikes in Iran, killing at least 657 people. Iran immediately retaliated with an airstrike that killed at least 24 people in Israel, including those who attacked hospitals in southern Israel on Thursday.
The US took part in the conflict on Saturday on a strike at Iran’s nuclear facility approved by President Trump.
“Many Iranians, especially those living in LA and in the diaspora, are deeply unhappy with the current administration,” said Payman Malaz, chief operating officer of the PARS Equality Centre for Sherman Oaks, a nonprofit supporting Persian immigration. “But of course, war is war… so what we hear from the community is a feeling of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty.”
“Just looking at the names of every neighbourhood I grew up in… it’s bombed. It’s so surreal. It feels like a dream – it’s even more like a nightmare.”
– Adrian, visitor to Azizam
Refusing to give him his last name, Adrian moved from Tehran to LA in 2011. He came to Azizam. He described it as a restaurant serving “Persian dishes made at home only by your mom.”
“In times like these, I want less intellectual discussion and more connections with my community,” said Laila Massoudnia.
Azizam tea and backgammon. (For Alex Golshani/Due to the era)
“My heart is very engrossed. I can barely sleep at night,” said Adrian, whose family lives in Tehran. “Just looking at the names of all the neighbours I grew up in… all these places, they’re being bombed. It’s so surreal. It feels like a dream – it’s even more like a nightmare.”
Meanwhile, in Tehlangeles, a Persian neighbour in Westwood that became a hub in the ’80s due to immigrants fleeing the Iranian revolution, shop owners report feelings of fear among Persian customers.
“They’re very worried right now,” said Aliperdas, the owner of Super Sun Market, a Persian grocery store that opened their doors over 20 years ago. “[The Iranian government] Cut the internet to prevent family and friends from reaching them. ”
Laila Massoudnia, who recently moved from the Bay Area to LA, said she was impressed by the welcoming and supportive community she found.
“If anything, with all the events that have happened over the past week, I’ve seen a lot of the united front here, regardless of the background we’re coming,” Massoudnia said. “I didn’t grow up in a community in America with many Iranians, so it just means that. It doesn’t make me feel lonely. And I know that many Iranians feel very, very isolated internally and externally.”
“Whether you’re full, half or just a little, you’re still Iranian,” Azizam said in an Instagram post.
(For Alex Golshani/Due to the era)
Many Iranian Americans want a peaceful resolution overseas. Massoudnia emphasized that Iranians (the group of people she described as “about all love”) had the same concerns as other Americans, even at war.
“No one wants to be born through missile and bomb routes,” Massoudnia said. “These are people with dreams and hopes who wake up every day, want to go to college and get an education for their children.
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