Sepi Shyne, West Hollywood Mayoral Candidate, to Run Again in 2020
By Fred Parvaneh
Last month, the residents of West Hollywood voted in the local California elections. On the ballot was the name of a small business owner, feminist, activist and attorney of Iranian descent: Sepi...
Remembering Dr. Rebecca Bet-Alkhas Irani, Pioneering Assyrian-Iranian Physician
By Reza Raein
Dr. Rebecca “Nora” Bet-Alkhas Irani, the first female Assyrian physician in Iran and one of the first Iranian-educated doctors to complete their training and residency in the West, passed away peacefully on...
Iranian Filmmaker Kioumars Derambakhsh Dies of Coronavirus at 74
By Reza Hamidi
The accclaimed Iranian photographer and documentary filmmaker Kioumars Derambakhsh died of coronavirus on March 31 in Paris. He was 74.
“Kioumars contracted coronavirus and was hospitalized a few days ago,” his brother Kambiz Derambakhsh, the...
PROFILE: Narges Mohammadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Speaks Of Her Struggle
By Ahmad Rafat
Narges Mohammadi, winner of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, is an Iranian journalist and human rights activist serving a 16-year sentence in prison. She has been detained a total of 13 times...
L.A.-Based Iranian Seismologist Bozorgnia Wins Prestigious Bruce Bolt Medal
The Iranian seismologist Yousef Bozorgnia has been selected as the 2019 recipient of the Bruce Bolt Medal by the Consortium of Strong-Motion Observation Systems (COSMOS), the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) and the Seismological...
Google’s ‘Security Princess’ Parisa Tabriz Battles for Web Safety, Gender Balance
By Nazanine Nouri
Parisa Tabriz is one of the most sought-after executives in the cybersecurity world. Her business card identifies her as Google’s “Security Princess”-- a title she came up with herself. She is the...
Iranian Wrestler Reza Abedi, Who Defected in 1982, to Join U.S. Hall of Fame
By Fred Parveneh
On April 15th, Reza Abedi – one of four wrestlers who defected from Iran to the West in 1982 – will be inducted into the California chapter of the U.S. National Wrestling...
An Iranian in Malta: Artist Lida Sherafatmand is a Campaigner for Peace
Malta is not the most obvious destination for an Iranian emigre family. Yet that's where Lida Sherafatmand moved to with her parents and siblings, a decade or so after the Revolution.
Elderly Iranians Feel At Home At Noor Active Living in Santa Clara
By Julie Ershadi
Mahin Afkhami worked for an affiliate of Iran's information and tourism ministry in the 1970s when the Revolution broke out. She and her husband, who had four children studying at universities in...
World Ranking of Top Women-Owned Businesses Includes Shahrzad Rafati’s BroadbandTV
By Nazanine Nouri
Shahrzad Rafati, the Iranian-born Canadian founder and CEO of BroadbandTV (BBTV) Corporation Shahrzad Rafati -- who was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2018 to represent Canada on a pre-summit G20...
