Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian diaspora community outside of Iran, with estimates ranging from 500,000 to over 700,000 Iranian Americans in the Greater LA area. The community is so large and culturally prominent that the Westside of LA -- particularly Westwood, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and the San Fernando Valley neighborhoods of Encino and Tarzana -- has earned the nickname "Tehrangeles." This is not hyperbole. In these neighborhoods, Farsi is spoken as commonly as English, Persian restaurants line every major boulevard, and the cultural infrastructure rivals that of a major Iranian city.
The great wave of Iranian immigration to Los Angeles came after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In the years following the revolution, hundreds of thousands of Iranians fled -- professionals, intellectuals, artists, religious minorities (Iranian Jews, Bahais, Armenians, Zoroastrians), and political dissidents. Many were wealthy and educated, and they settled on the Westside of LA, where the climate reminded them of Tehran and the lifestyle allowed them to rebuild their lives. By the 1980s, Westwood Boulevard had been transformed into a Persian commercial strip, and the community had established its own media, cultural organizations, and social networks.
What defines the Iranian diaspora in LA is its sophistication and cultural depth. Persian civilization is over 3,000 years old, and Iranian Americans carry that heritage with enormous pride. The community maintains a rich literary tradition (Hafez, Rumi, Ferdowsi, and contemporary poets are revered), a refined cuisine built on saffron, dried fruits, and slow-cooked stews, and a social culture centered on gatherings, hospitality, and the ritual of tea. Nowruz (the Persian New Year, celebrated at the spring equinox) is the community's defining event -- a celebration of renewal that has been observed continuously for over 3,000 years.
