List of Persian/Iranian Events for 2012-06-07

Los Angeles is home to a half-million Iranians, the largest population outside Iran. Persian newspapers, television stations, restaurants, and businesses have spread from Westwood and Beverly Hills (where Iranians make up 20 percent of the population) throughout the region. Even Lakers games are broadcast in Farsi. In 2009, after Iran held elections that were widely seen as having been rigged, the country broke out in protests that subsided only after weeks of harsh suppression. Last year, similar protests broke out in the Arab world, movements that culminated in reform in several nations, including Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. Now, hopes are running high for reform in Iran. What would this mean for L.A., with its hundreds of thousands of Iranian exiles? Would many Angelenos leave the country? Would the economies of Tehran and L.A. become closely intertwined? And, what role would Iranian-Angelenos play in a new Iran? Writer and activist Amir Soltani, entrepreneur and philanthropist Sharon S. Nazarian, and acting director of Iranian Studies at UCLA M. Rahim Shayegan visit Zócalo to discuss what the dream of a Persian Spring might mean for Los Angeles.