|
 The prevailing sentiment in part reflects the history of the
Southern California's Iranian community, made up of those in the
earliest wave of migration after Iran's 1979 revolution. Many are
still distrustful of the Iranian government.
A rollback of U.S. sanctions, which have contributed to Iran’s
skyrocketing inflation and inability to obtain Western medical
supplies, will do little to improve the lives of ordinary people,
many expatriates say. Instead, they see the government as the only
beneficiary of any economic boost that might follow the lifting of
sanctions, a reward for what they say is the Iranian leadership's
decades of bad behavior.
“They don’t use money for their own people,” said Rafi Mehrian,
owner of a housewares store in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of
Los Angeles that displays Iranian and Israeli flags. He fled Iran on
camel more than 25 years ago and never returned.
Similar to the anti-Castro Cuban community in Florida, many Iranian
expatriates advocate for the overthrow of their home-country’s
government, said Reza Aslan, a religious studies scholar at the
University of California, Riverside.
“The anger, the hatred, that many older Iranians have toward the
regime … tends to overshadow the hope for their country getting back
to a full, prosperous life,” he said.
While Iranians living abroad keep a close watch on news reports of
their native country, understanding the conditions that families are
facing back home can be difficult, said Aslan.
Iranians from religious minority groups – such as Jews, Christians
and Baha’is - have largely been unable to visit for the past three
decades, further distancing them from home.
The Iranian Jewish community in particular has developed allegiance
toward Israel. The majority of Iranian Jews in Los Angeles oppose
the proposed deal, which has been criticized by Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
[to top of second column] |
A sense of anger that U.S. President Barack Obama has turned his
back on Israel is shared among Iranians who emigrated as adults as
well as those who left as babies.
“I am deeply concerned and disappointed,” said Sam Yebri, who
founded a local organization to draw young Iranian-Americans into
political activism.
Despite widespread concern among Iranians, analysts have emphasized
that the expatriate community represents a diversity of opinions.
And some in Los Angeles expressed optimism that the new deal, if
successful, would bolster human rights and freedom for Iranian
citizens.
“I think this is a wonderful thing,” said Saba Soomekh, a visiting
professor of religious studies at the University of California, Los
Angeles, who left Iran when she was 2 years old. “Who knows where
the Iranian government will be in 15 or 20 years?”
(This version of the story corrects first paragraph to say a deal
between Tehran and world powers, not Washington)
(Editing by Frank McGurty and Lisa Shumaker)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
