At the end of last week, before the United States attaches the Iranian nuclear objectives, Shaheen Samadi sat inside the Azizam restaurant minimalist dining room in Silver Lake, drinking Ceylon tea with Cardamomo, a drink that reminds him of the tea he grew up drinking.
Born in Connecticut with parents who emigrated to the United States after the Iranian revolution in 1979, Samadi moved to Los Angeles hoping to connect with her Persian diaspora community, the world's largest out of Iran. Samadi, who describes himself as “his friendly Persian rapper of the neighborhood,” he has long criticized the Iranian regime in his music. All last week, he has felt terrified and angry when Israel and Iran exchanged mortal attacks.
“At this time, the entire Iranian -diaspora community is in this strange phase of struggle or flight and paralyzing anxiety,” Samadi said, sitting near the Azizam counter while the servers walked from side to side with barbari bread and Khostht bread dishes. “We like to see [the Iranian regime] be killed. What we don't like are the victims who come with him. ”
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AZIZAM – What Times's restaurants critic, Bill Addison, recently appointed one of the 101 Best Restaurants in California -He began to organize tea and courtesy backgammon in his cozy patio at sunset boulevard hoping to provide the Iranians with a safe space to relax and meet. As Samadi explained: “Most people, their bodies are full of blood, with the Persians of us, is tea.”
“Whether you are full, half or a fraction, you are still Iraní,” reads the restaurant Instagram publication Wednesday. “Azizam was born to celebrate that and our doors are open to all.”
Local Iranians all week have been finding comfort in restaurants such as Azizam and neighborhoods such as Tehranghes of the, which provide very necessary spaces to communicate with their culture. While many of them fear for their families and friends in Iran, they also have hope that, as Iranian Americans, they can unite a decades division.
Sal Mousavi, who visited Azizam for the first time on Thursday, said that many of the elements of the menu “remind me of home” and that the event helped him “concentrate on anything other than what is happening.”
He says is surrounded during a backgammon game in Azizam.
Aubtin Heydari said that family members visited Iran last week and led 48 hours to a safe place in Armenia. (Alex Golshani/for the Times)
Like many Iranian Americans in Los Angeles, Samadi does not approve of Iran's leadership, which their parents fled the country to escape. But he said that Persians in the United States still remain divided by the growing conflict between Iran and Israel, and now the United States.
“I hate saying it, but it doesn't feel like a community,” Samadi said about Persian diaspora in Los Angeles, “we are not united. We all have very strong opinions about things.”
Since June 13, Israel has launched air attacks on Iran that have killed at least 657 people. They will immediately retaliate with air attacks that have killed at least 24 people in Israel, including one that hospital In southern Israel on Thursday.
The United States entered the conflict on Saturday with strikes at Iranian nuclear facilities, authorized by President Trump.
“Many Iranians, especially those who live here in Los Angeles and live in the diaspora, are deeply dissatisfied with the current regime,” said Peyman Malaz, director of Operations of the Pars Equality Center in Sherman Oaks, a non -profit organization that supports Persian immigrants. “But, of course, war is war … Then, what we hear from the community are feelings of fear and anxiety, and also uncertainty.”
“Just see the names of all the neighborhoods in which I grew up … being bombarded. It is very surreal. It feels like a dream, more like a nightmare.”
– Adrian, a visitor in Azizam
Adrian, who refused to give his last name, emigrated to Los Angeles from Tehran in 2011. He arrived in Azizam, which he described as a restaurant that serves the “Persian dishes that only her mother does at home”, for backgammon and an albaloo or sour cherry.
“In times like these, I want less intellectual debates and more connection with my community,” said Laila Massaudnia.
Tea and Backgammon in Azizam. (Alex Golshani/for the Times)
“My mind is very worried, I can barely sleep at night,” said Adrian, who has the family living in Tehran. “Just seeing the names of all the neighborhoods where I grew up … all these places are being bombarded. It is very surreal. It feels like a dream, more like a nightmare.”
Meanwhile in Tehrangels – The Persian neighborhood in Westwood that became a center in the 80s for immigrants fleeing the Iranian revolution – Store owners report feelings of fear among their Persian customers.
“They are very worried at this time,” said Ali Perkdas, owner of Super Sun Market, a Persian grocery store that opened its doors more than 20 years ago. “[The Iranian government] Cut Internet, so they can't communicate with their family or friends. “
Laila Massaudnia, who recently moved to Los Angeles from the Bay area, said she was beaten by the cozy and support communities she found.
“In any case, with all the events that have happened in last week, I have seen a lot of united front here, regardless of any history we come,” Massaudnia said. “I did not grow in a community with many Iranians in the United States, so only that means the world. It does not make me feel alone. And I know that many Iranians, internally and externally, feel very, very isolated and alone.”
“Whether it is full, half or a fraction, it is still Iranian,” Azizam said on an Instagram post.
(Alex Golshani/for the Times)
Many Iranian Americans expect a peaceful resolution abroad. Massaudnia emphasized that the Iranians, a group of people who described as “all about love”, have the same concerns as virtually any other American, even in times of war.
“Nobody wants to be born on the path of missiles and bombs,” Massaudnia said. “These are people with aspirations, with dreams, with hope, that they wake up every day, they will work every day … they want their children to go to college and educate themselves … they have the same exact struggles as every thought that has passed to any American or the mind of any other person.”
