Persian Mosaic, Dave Devine, Tucson
Weekly
Tired of being viewed as camel jockeys and potential terrorists,
the Iranian community in Tucson formed the Iranian Association of
Arizona in 1996 to help correct American misconceptions. The 1978
seizure of the American embassy in Tehran, writes Dave Devine in
the Tucson Weekly, inaugurated a bias in the minds of
many Americans that still exists. Diplomatic relations–which were
severed as a result of the seizure–have still not been restored, a
reason perhaps why many Iranians are still viewed with suspicion in
this country. However, many Iranians–in Tucson and
elsewhere–favor restoring relations and bridging the gap between
the two cultures. As Mohammad Ehsani, a civil engineering professor
at the University of Tucson put it, ‘I hope Americans realize that
a majority of Iranians still hold Americans in a very good light
and consider them as their friends and allies and really would
welcome a normalization of relations between the two
countries.’
–Anjula
Razdan
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