Deepa Bharath.

Two shoppers select items at a grocery store in the "Tehrangeles" neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Iran war tests the harmony of Los Angeles’ huge Iranian community

Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran. This diverse group includes Muslims, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and Bahai who have lived here harmoniously since the 1980s. However, the recent Israel-Iran conflict has tested these long-held bonds. Experts note that in the diaspora, shared cultural and social ties often outweigh religious divides. Iranian Jews, while united with Muslims in opposing Iran’s regime, feel heightened anxiety over security in local houses of worship. Experts say Iranian Muslims, who would otherwise cheer on a regime change, might feel differently about an Israel-led war because of their antipathy toward Zionism.

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The Shri Shri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah, on Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)

From radio waves to temple domes: The unexpected journey of a Krishna couple in Utah

A couple who moved from Los Angeles to Utah about 45 years ago to run a radio station are now operating the only Hindu temple in a predominantly Mormon town. The 10,000-square-foot temple in a rural part of Utah called Spanish Fork sits on a 15-acre property that hosts one of the largest color festivals outside India every spring. The temple grounds have fruit and vegetable gardens, enclosures for llamas, peacocks and parrots and offers a donation-based vegetarian buffet daily. Members of the surrounding community, most of whom are Latter-day Saints, support the temple. Their revamped radio station now broadcasts rap and modern music composed and compiled to cater to a younger, Western audience.

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