A day of history, joy and anxiety in 'Tehrangeles' as a dream seems suddenly possible

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Reza Khaleghian, 70, came bursting through the door of Naab Cafe on Saturday morning, phone pressed to his ear, fist held in the air, screaming the news in Farsi at anyone who would listen: “Khamenei is dead!”Soon, President Trump would confirm the death of Iran’s supreme leader in a historic attack by the United States and Israel.A sea of flag-waving revelers would later fill the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Veteran Avenue.But as bombs fell 7,500 miles away in Tehran, members of West L.A.’s Iranian American community spent Saturday celebrating a day some had been awaiting for nearly half a century.“This is a fantastic day we could not even imagine in our dreams,” said Beha Pangrazio, 35.

She had emigrated from Tehran 10 years ago and brought her husband, infant son and mother to celebrate in Westwood, the epicenter of L.A.’s sprawling Iranian diaspora.“Hopefully the regime will change, the shah will return back home and we will have a glorious future for Iran.”The Greater Los Angeles area is home to the largest concentration of people of Iranian descent outside Iran.

Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, it has served as a capital for exiles.By 2019, more than half of Iranian immigrants to the U.S.

lived in California, with 29% — nearly 140,000 people — living in Los Angeles County alone, according to the Migration Policy Institute.Many settled in and around Westwood, earning the area the nickname “Tehrangeles.”As word spread on social media of a large demonstration scheduled for later in the day in support of the strikes, people gathered in the neighborhood’s shops and cafes to celebrate the news.Car horns blared and Persian music pumped through open windows.A Tesla Cybertruck festooned with two giant flags of the Imperial State of Iran, the monarchy overthrown in 1979, sped up Veteran Avenue; a Mercedes with the same flag billowing f...