Many Iranian Jews in the diaspora have viewed the onset of the war with \u201canxious glee,\u201d said Daniel Bral, a West Los Angeles resident whose grandfather, Moossa Bral, was the sole Jewish member of parliament in prerevolutionary Iran. He sees family members and others in the community rejoicing at the possibility of their \u201ctormentor\u201d being vanquished. <\/p>\n
But Bral feels differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just nervous and am completely rattled by everything that is happening,\u201d he said. \u201cI understand and sympathize with people\u2019s hope for regime change. But I worry about the safety of civilians and the efficacy of the operation removing Iran as a nuclear threat.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Bral doesn\u2019t see the war itself as a divisive issue in the diaspora because antagonism for the current regime is common across religious groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis hatred for the regime actually unifies Muslims and Jews,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Cultural enclave offers a sense of grounding<\/p>\n
Kamran Afary, a professor of communication at California State University, Los Angeles, who emigrated from Iran in the 1970s and cowrote a book about identities in Iranian diaspora, said the community, for the most part, has nursed a spirit of tolerance and respect, much like his interfaith family. While Afary is spiritual but not religious, other members of his family practice Judaism, Islam and the Bahai faith.<\/p>\n
\u201cInterfaith marriage used to be fraught, but even that is common now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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\n Kamran Afary, an associate professor of communication at California State University, Los Angeles, who immigrated from Iran in the 1970s, stands for a photo in the “Tehrangeles” neighborhood of Los Angeles Sunday, June 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n <\/p>\n
Kamran Afary, an associate professor of communication at California State University, Los Angeles, who immigrated from Iran in the 1970s, stands for a photo in the “Tehrangeles” neighborhood of Los Angeles Sunday, June 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/p>\n
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\n Kamran Afary, an associate professor of communication at California State University, Los Angeles, who immigrated from Iran in the 1970s, shows a photo of his grandfather in his apartment in the “Tehrangeles” neighborhood of Los Angeles, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)\n <\/p>\n
Kamran Afary, an associate professor of communication at California State University, Los Angeles, who immigrated from Iran in the 1970s, shows a photo of his grandfather in his apartment in the “Tehrangeles” neighborhood of Los Angeles, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/p>\n
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Afary says for him, Tehrangeles, with its row of grocery stores, ice cream and kebab shops, restaurants, bakeries and bookstores, offers solace and a sense of grounding in his culture and roots. There are about half a million Iranian Americans in the Greater Los Angeles region.<\/p>\n
The largest wave of Iranians migrated to the area after Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in 1979 and Ayatollah Khomeini assumed control, establishing the Islamic Republic of Iran. West Los Angeles, in particular, has the largest concentration of Iranian Jews outside Iran.<\/p>\n
A test for long-held bonds <\/p>\n
Diane Winston, professor of media and religion at the University of Southern California, said Israel\u2019s recent fight against the regime in Iran could test relationships between Iranian Jews and Muslims.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuslims, who otherwise would be happy to see regime change, might have felt a little differently about it because their antipathy for Zionism is strong,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Winston also observed that in the diaspora, which is concentrated in wealthy cities like Beverly Hills and Westwood, it is not just religion or culture that brings people together, but also their elevated social status.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey go to the same schools, parties and cultural events,\u201d she said. \u201cIn general, Iranian Muslims and Jews are not quite as religious as their counterparts back home. Los Angeles is a city where there is room to be orthodox, but also being less religious is not a problem. The less religious Jews and Muslims are, the less antipathy they may have toward each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
A time of fear and uncertainty<\/p>\n
Tanaz Golshan was 2 when her family left Iran in 1986. She serves as the senior vice president of Caring for Jews in Need, the Jewish Federation Los Angeles\u2019 service arm. She is also the organization\u2019s liaison to the Iranian Jewish community.<\/p>\n
Judaism for Iranians is \u201cmore cultural and familial,\u201d Golshan said. Getting together Friday for Shabbat means having Persian Jewish dishes like \u201cgondi,\u201d which are dumplings served in soup. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn my family, we didn\u2019t grow up too religious,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t think about religion when we go to a restaurant or market. You\u2019ll find people in both communities that are extreme and don\u2019t want anything to do with the other. But in general, we have a lot of love and respect for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n A woman shops at a grocery store decorated with American and Iranian flags in the \u201cTehrangeles\u201d neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/p>\n A woman shops at a grocery store decorated with American and Iranian flags in the \u201cTehrangeles\u201d neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n And yet this is proving to be a tense and scary time for Iranian Jews in the diaspora, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happens globally can affect security locally,\u201d Golshan said, adding the federation\u2019s helpline has received calls asking if there are any threats to local Jewish institutions, she said. \u201cThere is real fear that temples and community centers could become targets.\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, Golshan\u2019s organization and others hosted more than 350 community members for a virtual event titled, L.A. United: Iranian and Israeli Communities in Solidarity.<\/p>\n A call for regime change in Iran<\/p>\n Reactions to the war have been nuanced, regardless of religious affiliations. Arezo Rashidian, whose family is Muslim, is a Southern California political activist who favors regime change in Iran. She supports the return of Reza Pahlavi<\/a>, the exiled son of the shah, who has declared he is ready to lead the country\u2019s transition to a democratic government.<\/p>\n Rashidian said she has never been able to visit Iran because of her activism. The only hope for her return would be for the current regime to fall. This is why the ceasefire has stirred mixed feelings for her and many others in the community, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been an emotional roller coaster. No one wants a war, but we were on the brink of seeing this regime collapse. We were so close,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n