Have you met many Iranians in the US?

30 comments

1. I am aware of no Iranian stereotypes, and don’t think I would know if I knew any Iranian-Americans. I don’t have a good idea of the cultural distinctions between various middle eastern countries, unfortunately. Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan all sort of occupy the same “group” in my mind.

2. I can only tell if I happen to hear them speaking Farsi.

3. One of my best friend’s mom was from Iran so I knew her fairly well. There was nothing other than her accent and name that really gave her away.

4. One of my longest friendships is with someone who’s half Iranian/half Mexican. His father is an Iranian first generation immigrant (and may well have come over in connection with the revolution, although I’ve never asked him). I don’t have any negative or positive things to say about his having an Iranian background. It’s a non issue. Frankly, it’s only come up because his name is really hard to pronounce (😂) and he’s a brown guy in a post-9/11 world that, unfortunately, looks a lot like Osama Bin Laden (like, actually, not just because he has a similar complexion). He’s been harassed numerous times because of it. Luckily, he’s one of the most laid back people I’ve ever met and has managed to somehow take it in stride.

5. I had an Iranian roommate in college, and his mom was a huge (American) football fan & would bring us Iranian takeout food on Sundays and watch the NFL game with us. Great food and a great guy.

   We also had a roommate from Lebanon, and he and the Iranian guy would argue now & then while me & the other American guy watched with amusement.

   edit: There were four of us in the house, those two guys and two boring-ass American dudes.

6. I can’t think of any. I’ve lived in the Midwest, the NYC metro area, and now the South.

7. I do know some Iranians although they prefer to go by Persians since they don’t like to be associated with the Khomeini regime.

8. Iranian last names are pretty distinctive but I couldn’t like visually see some random Iranian guy walking down the street and be like “as yes of course, he must be Iranian”

9. I work in a STEM field, and yes I know a lot of Iranians. I work with probably 10 or so. All of the Iranians I know immigrated to the US, so you can tell by their accent. There really isn’t a stereotype about Iranians, but in my experience, my Iranian friends are outgoing, polite, love a party, and are great to work with. On the flip side, they don’t take any shit. If they are feeling taken advantage of, they will politely put their foot down, which I admire. Now whether those traits are common in Iranian culture, I couldn’t say. I can only say that they are common in my small group of Iranian friends and coworkers.

10. I have met three at work and my neighbors also Iranians. In general not so many, looking at faces I have no idea if they are from Iran, Syria, Iraq, Turkey or Azerbaijan, Afghanistan.

11. Speaking Persian is a dead giveaway, but other than that it would be difficult. There is a decent NA/ME population in my city, and many of those cultures intermarry and live alongside just about everyone.

12. I have met a lot of Iranian-Americans in my life. They usually refer to themselves as Persian however, and honestly great people.

13. There was one Iranian family in my hometown, they were nice.

14. No, but my sister has been mistaken for Iranian/Persian a few times, which our whole family finds confusing.

15. Iranians in **MY** America?!

    I have no issue. They’re just people. Can’t say I’ve met any.

16. Yeah, I’ve met a lot of Iranians through school/work/socializing. I guess names are the main indicator, but most of the Iranian people I know like to talk about Persian culture (especially food lol).

17. Upwards of 20 I have known personally, many more I have probably met and didn’t know where they were from.

    The first time someone told me he was “Persian,” it confused me. I was like, “I’m pretty sure there is no country called Persia these days. Do you mean your parents are from Iran?” He said yeah, but we don’t like to say Iranian because of the whole “Death To America!” thing. I was like, dude I’m at your apartment to buy weed, I’m pretty sure you’re not a radical anti-Western fundamentalist 🙂

18. I know someone who lived in Iran but she isn’t specifically Iranian. Otherwise I don’t know that I’ve met any folks from Iran. I don’t know of any stereotypes specific to people from Iran, though.

19. The West Side of L.A. is called Tehrangeles for a reason.

20. My heart surgeon was Iranian. I’m still here. He left Iran so his three daughters would have a better life.

21. I have met a few. One of my friends growing up had Iranian parents that fled from Iran.

    The messed up thing was they were both doctors. His dad was able to get all his records sent over. His mom did not so she had to work non-doctor jobs for years until she could establish she was actually a physician.

22. Yes there was a Persian family on my street growing up

23. I’ve met a few people from that region at work, but I can’t tell Iranians and Pakistanis apart, so I couldn’t say which are which.

    The ones I’ve met have either been engineers that are really glad to be here or super aloof professors.

24. Lol every Iranian I met = and it s not many – has been through STEM, new england universities (north east coast). A lot of time in the US a larger city or region will have a higher concentration from one particular country or another that build a community within a community. Idk where there is a big Iranian community in the US

25. My physics professor in college was. His wife was in some of the same classes as me.

    We bonded over the fact that I was from NY, making a point to say ‘upstate’. Turns out he used to teach at SU. I grew up there. His wife needed help with colloquial English. In payment, she fed me. Very well.

    One night, after the kids were in bed, he talked a little about how he snuck the family out.

26. I have known several. But the people I knew (some who I have known since I was a young kid, 30+ years now) are children of immigrants, and frequently only one parent was an immigrant.

27. I wouldnt be able to tell unless they told me. The biggest commonality if find is they are typically irreligious and very opposed to the Iranian government

28. We have many middle easterners along with other peoples who are fresh immigrants working at my company. I’m sure some are probably Iranian. They work a lot of entry level jobs and most don’t speak much English.

29. Yes, I have. In fact, an Iranian man asked me to plant a duffel bag in the middle of a busy airport, I don’t know what for tho 🤔

30. I’ve met a fair few, specifically when I lived in California