With the U.S. presidential election just two months away and some states already mailing out ballots, Iranian-American activists and leaders told JNS that the expat Iranian community in the United States is paying close attention to the policies of both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump towards the Islamic regime in Tehran and the Middle East more broadly.
Communal leaders and activists told JNS that means many members of the community are leaning towards Trump in the upcoming election because they think that he has a stronger stance on curbing the spread of terror in the region being fueled and funded by Iran.
“The Biden-Harris administration has directly and indirectly enriched Iran by $150 billion in the last three and half years, which is funding turmoil and terrorism in the Middle East,” Dr. Sheila Nazarian, a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon and activist of Iranian descent, told JNS.
Some activists say the Biden administration’s failure to take a stronger stance against the Iranian regime and its violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations two years ago—many of them led by women following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022—has turned off members of the Iranian-American community, who have traditionally voted Democrat.
“The general atmosphere of the Iranian Americans suggests that the community is against Harris and the current Democrat administration, knowing that the Biden administration not only did not support the 2022 uprising in Iran but continued to negotiate with and appease the Iranian people’s oppressors,” said Dr. Reza Behrouz, an Iranian-American activist and neurologist in San Antonio.
Many Iranian Americans are still angered by the Biden administration’s decision to hire Robert Malley, the suspended U.S. special envoy for Iran, who pushed for easing sanctions against the Islamic regime, according to Behrouz.
Malley is reportedly the subject of a federal investigation for allegedly mishandling classified information and was forced to take leave from his position in the Biden administration.
‘Her own policies’
Nick Nikbakht, an Iranian-American activist and businessman in Dallas, told JNS that the community is divided. “There will still be some in the Iranian community who don’t really care about the situation in Iran and will vote for Harris because they’re lifelong Democrats,” he said.
Cameron Khansarinia, vice president of the National Union for Democracy in Iran, a Washington nonprofit, told JNS that many Iranian-Americans who were previously unengaged in U.S. politics are being galvanized, according to Khansarinia.
“Their calculation will be simple: Which candidate will hold the criminal regime in Iran accountable for its crimes and terrorism and support the people of Iran fighting against it?” he said. “The community will support the candidate who prioritizes human rights and takes a firm stance against the Iranian regime.”
Ally Bolour, an Iranian-American activist and immigration attorney in Los Angeles, told JNS that he was “very disappointed with Biden providing billions to the regime in Iran and was not planning on voting for him.”
“But now that he’s dropped out, I’m excited to be voting for Harris because she’s not Biden and has her own policies,” he said. “As far as Harris and Iran policy is concerned, we Iranians need to be at the table to educate her and Democrats in Washington about the human-rights abuses going on in Iran today.”
“We can’t neglect elected officials, who don’t always agree with us,” Bolour said.
Simon Etehad, a former president of the Iranian Nessah Synagogue in Beverly Hills, Calif., told JNS that “there is still support for the Democrats” among Iranian-Americans and “if you drank the proverbial Kool-Aid, then there is no changing the mind of someone who will do anything but vote for President Trump.”
There is also an Iranian Americans for Harris Walz group, which states that “Iranian Americans from all corners of the nation are uniting to support the Harris-Walz ticket in this critical election.”
“The stakes couldn’t be higher, as the outcome will determine whether we continue to thrive in a democracy or fall under the grip of religious extremism,” the group states on its site. “As immigrants and children of immigrants who left their homeland in pursuit of liberty, we steadfastly stand for a secular democracy. We stand for freedom and a future where everyone belongs. Together, we choose a path that honors our values and secures a brighter tomorrow for all.”
‘Make their voices heard’
Many Iranian Americans are concerned for their safety, as some of those illegally entering the country have alleged ties to the Islamic regime, according to Khansarinia.
“The Islamic Republic is certainly taking advantage of America’s immigration problems to promote its agenda and even to conduct acts of terrorism,” he said. “The regime will continue doing this as long as it is in power.”
Iranian-American activists also told JNS that younger community members are becoming more involved in campaigning this cycle, including pushing for the Mahsa Amini Human Rights and Security Accountability Act, or the MAHSA Act, which became law earlier this year and imposes sanctions on leaders of the Iranian regime.
The legislation, which became law on April 24 as part of H.R.815— making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30—is named for Amini, who died on Sept. 16, 2022, after being beaten by the regime’s morality police for not wearing what authorities deemed a proper head covering. Her death sparked months-long violent street protests throughout Iran.
“Those of us who were involved with lobbying members of Congress and the Senate to pass the MAHSA Act were very unhappy with how the Biden-Harris administration appeased the regime in Iran at every turn, and we will be voting for Trump as a result,” Nikbakht told JNS.
On Sept. 3, a small group of Iranian Americans based in Washington., D.C., created the grassroots group “Iranians for Trump.”
“We came across so many Iranian Americans who were either Independents or Democrats who felt their voices had not been heard by the Biden-Harris administration when it came to Iran policy,” Sarah Raviani, a spokeswoman for the group, told JNS. “They were asking questions, seeking guidance on how to make their voices heard, so we decided to launch this group as a place to help them become politically active and make their vital voices heard.”
Raviani, whose group isn’t affiliated with the Trump campaign or the Republican Party, told JNS that it has received significant support from Iranian Americans who voted or campaigned actively for Democratic presidential candidates in the past.
“There is also a significant number of Iranian Americans living in Virginia who could really make a difference with their vote for President Trump because it’s a swing state,” she said. “We’re encouraging them to get out the vote for him.”
Iranians in the United States are increasingly becoming politically active because they realize their past painful experiences from Iran can be helpful in dealing with national security issues, according to Iranian-American Sharona Nazarian, the vice mayor of Beverly Hills and a clinical psychologist.
“It is crucial for the broader American society and elected officials to understand the experiences of Iranian-Americans, particularly regarding the impacts of radical Islam,” she told JNS. “Their voices provide valuable insights into the dangers of extremism and the importance of promoting tolerance and security. These experiences should inform U.S. policies to prevent similar issues domestically.”
Making peace happen
Some non-Muslim Iranian-Americans told JNS they were disappointed with Biden and other Democrats for failing to pressure the regime in Tehran, which is increasingly persecuting those of Baha’i and other minority faiths.
“People of Baha’i faith in Iran have no rights, and for 45 years, they have experienced horrible persecution by the Islamic Republic,” according to Iranian-American Baha’i activist Peyman Aghssa, who lives in Michigan.
“Most Iranians are disappointed that both Republicans and Democrats have negotiated with this regime in Iran over the years,” he told JNS. “But Trump has been the only one that has put the regime under a lot of financial pressure, and this regime may finally be toppled if he returns and continues that pressure.”
Aghssa, who works as an engineer near Dearborn, said a large segment of the city’s Muslim and Middle Eastern residents have told him that they support Trump.
“Many Muslims in Dearborn, who I know and work with, are very disappointed with Biden and Harris because of their administration’s support for Israel and giving Israel weapons for the war in Gaza,” he said. “Many of them are telling me they will likely vote for Trump, who made peace happen in the Middle East with the Abraham Accords and didn’t cause any wars.”
Iranian-American Jewish activists told JNS that many members of their community, which is largely based in southern California and New York, support Trump due to the rise in Jew-hatred in Democrat-controlled cities and states, which brings back painful memories of fleeing Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
“Many Iranian Jews who moved here after the revolution, what they are seeing happen by pro-Hamas protesters here in the United States, who are burning American flags and chanting ‘death to the Jews,’ it is triggering,” according to Rabbi Tarlan Rabizadeh, vice president of Jewish engagement at American Jewish University in Los Angeles.
“It takes them back to the ‘Death to America, Death to Israel!’ chants they witnessed in Iran accompanied by the same burning of flags,” said the rabbi, who is a Persian Jew. “The fact that Iran is backing a lot of the protests here in America is also a challenging thing to digest while the rest of the world is not aware of some of these facts.”
Matthew Nouriel, an Iranian Jewish activist in Los Angeles, told JNS that “many of us, myself included, feel politically homeless and very torn.”
“I’ve never heard so many people say they just aren’t going to vote, because the two options are terrible whichever way you slice it,” he said, “which is problematic in and of itself.”