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Recent headlines have fixated on a handful of flashy arrests and social-media stunts involving people tied to Iran’s theocratic rulers. But a new, hard-to-ignore survey of Iranian-Americans makes one thing plain: the loud few do not speak for the many. The Persian community in California and across the country overwhelmingly wants the Islamic Republic gone and wants real democracy in its place — not a throne restored for an exile or a glossy Instagram sale of loyalty.
Survey signals a clear message
The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) survey found only a sliver of support for the mullahs — roughly 3% favor the current regime, and just 8% would take a reformed version of it. Most want something very different: about 55% back a parliamentary democracy, while only about 11% favor bringing back a monarchy. Those numbers are not noise. They are a clear statement from a community that fled repression and has spent decades living in freedom.
Don’t let the loud few speak for millions
Yes, a few headline-grabbing stories — an arrest at the airport, the revelation of relatives of regime figures living well in Los Angeles, viral social posts — make for juicy copy. But a flashy Instagram photo or a criminal indictment doesn’t rewrite the views of immigrant families who came here to escape the same oppression those stooges cheer. Most Iranian-Americans arrived around the 1979 revolution and have no interest in trading their liberties for nostalgic royal pageantry or foreign dictatorship propaganda.
What Washington should hear
Policymakers should stop using a handful of bad actors as a smokescreen to ignore the real wishes of the Iranian diaspora. If the goal is a free Iran, listen to the people who actually want one. That means supporting democracy-oriented groups, backing human-rights advocates, and targeting genuine regime operatives in the U.S. with law enforcement and sanctions — not amplifying the voices of well-connected regime relatives who flaunt wealth and hypocrisy.
The takeaway is simple: Iranian-Americans overwhelmingly want freedom, not a return to autocracy or foreign-imposed royalty. Let’s stop treating a few corrupt, noisy figures as if they represent an entire community. If Washington is serious about supporting the Iranian people’s aspirations, it should follow the majority’s lead — and resist the temptation to back shortcuts that ignore what Iranians actually want.
