Published Sunday, Dec. 16, 2001, in the San Jose Mercury News

On a cultural mission

Journalist grapples with issues facing Iranian emigres
BY T.T. NHU
Mercury News

She looks as if she could have stepped off the runway as a fashion model in Milan, but only a few years ago, Susan Akbarpour practiced journalism
wearing a chador, the cloak all women in Iran are obliged to wear for the sake of modesty.

Akbarpour, 31, has been a journalist since the age of 12. But the publisher of the San Jose-based Iran Today newspaper is not only a media maven, she is
at the forefront of many issues facing the Iranian emigre community.

Sandy Close, president of New California Media, has known Akbarpour since she interned at Close's Pacific News Service and is one of her mentors and champions.

``She's a dazzler,'' Close said. ``Having just arrived in California barely a few years ago, she's now established herself as advocate and spokeswoman in the ethnic media, a role that just can't be underestimated.''

A whirlwind of projects and campaigns, Akbarpour's mission is to pressure U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein into withdrawing her proposed legislation to restrict student visas issued to countries on the United States' list of terror sponsors, including Iran.

``I'm puzzled about the senator's logic,'' Akbarpour said. ``She has failed to recognize the fact that none of the 19 hijackers were Iranians, while 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis. Yet her bill does not include visa restriction to students from Saudi Arabia.''

Akbarpour said that 40 percent of Iranian-Americans contribute to the country's growth in technical, managerial and administrative positions.
``Many Iranians and other international students came to this country on student visas, and they go back to their countries and become ambassadors in their home countries. They act as catalysts for change and understanding between East and West.''

Feinstein spokesman Scott Gerber said instead of a ban on students from those countries, the legislation might require the State Department to perform full background checks on all applicants from those countries the United States considers terrorist-supporting states: Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Syria, North Korean and Cuba. The bill is still pending.

Knows controversy

Akbarpour is no stranger to controversy. Four years ago, she moved to the Bay Area from Iran, where she was banned from writing after frequently confronting the government over corruption within its ranks.

Being a reporter in a chador did not deter Akbarpour at all. ``The chador was only a uniform and did not interfere with my intellectual freedom,'' she said. ``In fact, wearing a chador was like a password to enter restricted areas.''

Today the stylish Akbarpour publishes Iran Today, a 20,000-circulation monthly for the Iranian community in the United States. Most of the 700,000 Iranian-Americans live around Los Angeles, which is known among Iranians as ``Tehrangeles.'' About 100,000 live in Northern California, according to the Persian Diaspora Census count, done by the members of the exile community.

Iran Today, published in Farsi and English, is aimed largely at high-tech entrepreneurs, engineers, physicians, business people and other second-generation Iranian-American professionals.

The online version features Iranian films, health, sports, political opinion pieces and reports reflecting the views of Akbarpour and others who support the lifting of U.S. sanctions against Iran and improved relations between the two nations. Like many recently transplanted Iranians, she vehemently opposes those who want to see the monarchy restored in Tehran. ``The political realities in Iran are different today,'' she said.

Iran Today has offices in San Jose and Los Angeles, but most of its 50 or so writers and editors submit their material electronically. Her editor-in-chief lived in Australia during the paper's first year of publication.

The hard-working publisher said she plans to be ``a soon-to-be-retired journalist'' so she can concentrate on online ventures where a much-larger audience can log on from around the world.

New project

Her newest project, SiliconIran, Inc. (siliconiran.com), targets the high-tech in the Iranian-American community. Irantodayonline.com gets 140,000 hits per week, and SiliconIran receives 30,000 per week.

Akbarpour built the database and network for her online endeavors with more than 2,000 participants from corporations and Iranian venture capitalists and expatriates already established in the booming high-tech economy.

A number of them, including Los Altos multimillionaire Kamran Eliahan, co-founder of several Silicon Valley companies, and Faraj Aalaei, Centillium Communications CEO, are working with her on her business and community projects.

As a recent emigre, Akbarpour thoroughly relishes the possibilities. ``If I were still in Iran, I'd be either in prison or in Parliament,'' she said. ``Here, I'm a bridge between past and future, between old and new, between two borders.''