page_title: Iranian Americans
section_title: Politics
hierarchical_section_title: Iranian Americans / Politics
caption_attribution_description: English: 2011-Survey of Iranian-Americans
context_page_description: Iranian Americans or Persian Americans are U.S. citizens who are of Iranian ancestry or who hold Iranian citizenship.
  Iranian Americans are among the most highly educated people in the United States. They have historically excelled in business, academia, science, the arts, and entertainment.
  Most Iranian Americans arrived in the United States after 1979, as a result of the Iranian Revolution and the fall of Persian monarchy, with over 40% settling in California, specifically Los Angeles. Unable to return to Iran, they have created many distinct ethnic enclaves such as Tehrangeles. The Iranian American community has become successful, with many becoming doctors, engineers, lawyers, and tech entrepreneurs.
  Based on a 2012 announcement by the National Organization for Civil Registration, an organization of the Ministry of Interior of Iran, the United States has the highest number of Iranians outside the country.
context_section_description: Though Iranian-Americans have historically excelled in business, academia, and the sciences, they have traditionally shied away from participating in American politics or other civic activities. Iranian-Americans don't seem to engage in American Politics; the fact that only 10 percent of them voted in the 2004 election, according to surveys in large American cities, is evidence of this.
  In Los Angeles, Iranian Americans paid for a billboard to inform thousands of travelers on the 405 freeway of how the Iranian regime had murdered ten thousand political prisoners.
  An August 2008 Zogby International poll, commissioned by the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, found that approximately one-half of Iranian Americans identified themselves as registered Democrats, in contrast to one in eight as Republicans and one in four as independents (2008).
  The same poll indicates that more than half of Iranian Americans cite domestic U.S. issues, including issues that are not unique to Iranian Americans, as the most important to them. In contrast, one quarter of Iranian Americans cite foreign policy issues involving U.S.-Iran relations and less than one-in-ten cite the internal affairs of Iran as being of greatest importance to them.
  From 1980 to 2004, more than one out of every four Iranian immigrants was a refugee or asylee. The PAAIA/Zogby poll cites that almost three-quarters of Iranian-Americans believe the promotion of human rights and democracy in Iran is the most important issue relating to U.S.-Iran relations. About the same percentage, however, believe diplomacy is the foreign policy approach towards Iran that would be in the best interest of the United States. 84% support establishing a U.S. Interest Section in Iran. Nearly all Iranian Americans surveyed oppose any U.S. military attack against Iran.
caption: Most important issues to the Iranian-American community
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