Iranian American Community of Texas is non-partisan non-government organization representing the Iranian-Americans in Texas. Since 1981, as the largest Iranian-Americans, we have been working to fulfill our civic responsibility through active engagement in political process and educate our representatives and media on priorities important to our community.

We are united in a #FreeIran with no version, form, or faction of the current regime representation. The current regime must therefore be changed in its entirety: by the people of Iran. We believe his serves the security and peace in the region and beyond.

The Iranian American Community of Texas (IAC-TX) is a member advocates for a democratic, secular, non-nuclear republic Iran. We respect for human rights, gender equality, religious and ethnic tolerance, as wells as social, economic justice, and security for America. Our goal is to organize Iranian-American communities in Texas to promote these values. We support a third option in dealing with Iran, one which supports the Iranian people’s quest for democratic change.

Congressman Ted Poe
Republican Texas

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee
Democrat Texas

In the late 60’s and 70’s, many students from Iran traveled to the United States to attend college/university before returning to their homeland to put their knowledge to practice, which was quite routine at that time. In the late 70’s the Iranian revolution began to take shape. The majority of the Iranian people came to the streets in Iran to protest the inhumane corruption and lavish lifestyle of the Shah, his regime, and his notorious secret police, SAVAK. Many Iranian students in the United States also organized rallies to show their solidarity with the protestors in Iran. The Shah ultimately left the country and Khomeini’s regime came to power in February 1979. However, although the situation temporarily improved in Iran, it quickly deteriorated. The newly formed regime eliminated other groups and organizations and became an absolute theocratic dictatorship in a matter of two years.

With the situation worsening rapidly between the late 70’s and early 80’s, many students who were already studying in the states, remained there, and many more poured out of Iran and into Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, and Africa. Many families sold everything they had, left Iran, and sought political asylum in other countries while some simply sought a better social life. Many families who were connected to politically active or imprisoned relatives sent their children out of the country in fear of persecution due to association. As a consequence of all these events, the number of Iranian immigrants increased astronomically all over the world from the late 70’s to late 80’s.

Our Iranian-American community started to grow rapidly in the early 80’s, in Texas. Many of the founders of our community (students from 70’s) got married and raised our children in the area. We found work, supported our families, and became naturalized citizens. We assimilated into local communities and began celebrating new holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July.
Our community soon became involved in political activities, and we took full advantage of the democracy available to us by voting and campaigning for different American officials. We voted for local and national officials along with our neighbors and coworkers. We strived to participate in, and contribute to our new communities, all the while building new friendships and bonds with other members of our communities.

At the same time, our community kept up with the news and events from back home. We had found safer and better lives but it was not our goal to forget our homeland or heritage. We aimed to teach our children our native tongue, Farsi, in addition to English. It was important to teach our children about Iranian culture and history in addition to the American history they learned at school.