Iranian-Americans want IRGC gone

The Trump administration has been cracking down on a handful of Iranian residents who have ties to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and have even allegedly been involved in gun-running while living lavish lifestyles in LA. That may leave the impression that this community might not support attempts to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In reality, California’s Persian community is overwhelmingly opposed to the regime.

A survey done recently by the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans found that barely 3% of Iranian-Americans favor the current regime, while an additional 8% would welcome a reformed Islamic Republic. 

Among regime opponents, 11%  would like to see a constitutional monarchy, while 55% would like a parliamentary democracy.

That suggests that any attempt from the outside to put Reza Pahlavi, the son of the late Shah, on the throne would likely be opposed by many Iranian-Americans.

“A lot of people who support the Shah have never lived under him,” suggests 81-year-old Kamron Jabbari, a prominent publisher of books about Iranian culture, who came to the US at age 19.

To be sure, some pro-regime Iranian “nepo babies”  live here, and have done so with an abandon that would get them whipped or worse back in the home country.

This includes Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, the niece of the late Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani, a man with American blood, and other blood, on his hands. Afshar and her own daughter backed the oppressive regime even as they lived the high life. The great-niece even showed herself off in skimpy outfits forbidden in Iran on social media even while extolling the puritanical regime back home.

But these revelations do not cancel out the fact that most Iranian-Americans despise the regime. After all, the bulk of Iranians here, notes a new Chapman report from geographer Ali Modarres, came either shortly before or after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. They have no more reason to back the mullahs than  Cuban Americans in Miami favor the communist regime in Havana.

This is very true of the Iranians here California, many of whom are active opponents of the regime. Our state, notes Modarres, is home to the largest Persian community in America, accounting for over 45 percent of the estimated 500,000 Iranians in the country.

Iranian-Americans have become extraordinarily successful by any standard. Professor Modarres explains this reflects that most came as students or as skilled immigrants. Overall, more than 50 percent of those over 25 hold a bachelor’s or master’s degree, while another 20 percent have a doctorate or professional degree — figures well above the national average.

Among this gifted population, there are few apologists for the regime.. But others, worried about family in Iran — as many as 88 percent still have close relatives there — stay quiet out of fear. Some of the most prominent dissenters also have even been targeted for assassination by the regime’s agents. 

But most are not dissuaded from backing efforts to topple the regime. Nick Arazatash, who runs a construction firm in Orange County, remembers the country as being much like California, with mild weather and spectacular topography. Like others he remembers a more tolerant place where Muslims co-existed with minorities like Bahai, Christians, Zoroastrians, and Jews.

“We need to get rid of the fanatics ruining Iran,” the 61-year-old told me. “If I were young enough, I would join the U.S. Navy if I could.”

This is not to say that Iranians, like other Americans, are united about the best US policy. Many may despise the current regime, but are divided as to American airstrikes. They worry about civilian casualties, the horrendous economic conditions back home, and the possibility of a wider Middle East war.

Many were shocked, as would be expected, by President Trump’s intemperate threat to destroy Persian civilization, something that well predates Islam and was, among other things, the most powerful opponent of the Roman Empire.

Given Iran’s history of foreign domination, both from Britain and the U.S., supporting a local insurgency could prove the best approach. “I think the changes should come from inside Iran, not outside,” notes publisher Jabbari. 

But, whatever their differences about tactics, most  Iranians appear fully in favor of policies that would cause regime change.

Leaving the regime chastened, but in power, as some now suggest, would not likely satisfy most Iranians here. Being Americans themselves, they have reaped the harvest of freedom, and their goal is to extend that to their relatives now trapped by a brutal government and its messianic philosophy. 

Although most will never return permanently to Iran, they also could prove critical in rebuilding the country, much as exiled Cubans look towards the reconstruction of their motherland,  

“I would love to rebuild Iran,” says Nick Azartash. “All of us want to help not to make money but to restore a great country.”

Joel Kotkin is the presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University and Senior Research Fellow at the Civitas Institute of the University of Texas at Austin.

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