Welcome to Tehrangeles

The "If you've got it, flaunt it" lifestyle of Persians living in Bev Hills may seem like an old story, but Kevin West, writing in July's W magazine, finds that a new generation of Iranian-Americans isn't so easy to categorize.

Today many younger members of the Persian community favor a less ornate style and in this--as well as in many more-important matters--they represent a generational pivot between the Persian Jewish community's past in Tehran and its future in Los Angeles. Thirty-six-year-old Natasha Baradaran, an L.A.-born and -bred interior designer whose husband, Bob, is the only Persian partner at white-shoe law firm Greenberg Glusker, is a prime example. "Especially for women, the revolution was the best thing that could have happened," says Natasha, who earned a master's degree in international relations at Columbia University before choosing a more creative career path. "It was hard for a lot of people who lost everything. But their kids--we learned that the sky is the limit." Less insular and more civic-minded than their elders, these young parents, professionals and entrepreneurs represent some of America's wealthiest and most educated immigrant offspring. The time has clearly come--as politicians, savvy businesspeople and charity fundraisers have realized--to meet the neighbors in Beverly Hills.

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The present-day elite Persian community in Beverly Hills, though, really got its start in the early Seventies, when four brothers of the Mahboubi clan--who had grown rich at home from their virtual monopoly on chewing gum--moved to Los Angeles and sank their money into real estate on Rodeo Drive. One of the brothers, Dar Mahboubi, backed haberdasher Bijan during the Eighties, and younger Mahboubis continue to manage the family's considerable property holdings. Another group of brothers, the Yadegars, also arrived in Beverly Hills before the revolution and began snapping up real estate. Today so many Persians own stakes in Beverly Hills' Golden Triangle, the prime streets between Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards, that the area is known to some as "Tehrangeles." (Another Persian shopping district in Westwood has also earned that moniker.)

By the way, there's obviously been outrage in L.A.'s Iranian community over last week's election. There have been several vigils outside the federal building in Westwood. From USA Today:

Hossein Hedjazi hosts a talk show on Pars TV and says the Iranian government has been jamming the satellite transmissions into Iran since the election. Even though Iranian Americans have a mix of opinions, ranging from communists to those who support the return of the monarchy, they are united in their response to the election, he says: "Outrage." Most oppose the current regime, but a "very small minority" supports the government and is pleased with the election results, says Taghi Mokhtar, editor and publisher of the newspaper Iranians Weekly, based in Ashburn, Va.