In ‘Tehrangeles,' Iranian Americans Anxiously Watch War Unfold From Afar
The afternoon sunshine set Westwood Boulevard aglow. It was an incongruous setting for Masud Valipour, as he sat inside his West Los Angeles bookshop on Tuesday and contemplated the destruction being unleashed more than 7,500 miles away in his native Iran.
'Somebody attacked my country,' Mr. Valipour said of Israel's airstrikes on Iran that began on Friday.
Inside the Ketabsara bookshop, thick leather-bound books rose high off the shelves. Framed Persian calligraphy on the walls evoked a timelessness. Mr. Valipour said he opposes the Iranian regime. But he did not want to see his home country bombed.
Mr. Valipour, a U.S. citizen, has resigned himself to the possibility that the United States could join Israel's war against Iran. It wouldn't be a question of allegiances for Mr. Valipour.
'If there is fighting between parents, mom and dad, do I choose a side or say, 'OK, I'm going to talk to them to find a resolution?'' he said.
On Tuesday, in one of the most vibrant Iranian American communities in the United States, uncertainty and anxiety lingered among residents, as Iran and Israel continued another day of fierce fighting. Westwood, a neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles near the U.C.L.A. campus, is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran. It has taken on many names, including Persian Square, Little Persia, Little Tehran and Tehrangeles, a combination of Tehran and Los Angeles.
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