An activist and Westwood restaurant owner raised awareness about historical and current conflicts in Iran at a Thursday luncheon. <\/p>\n
The most recent United States-Iran conflict began Feb. 28 after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran that killed its supreme leader, according to CNN<\/a>. <\/p>\n President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf signed a memorandum of understanding \u2013 a formal, non-binding agreement \u2013 Wednesday that gives the U.S. and Iran 60 days to negotiate a final peace deal, according to CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n Roozbeh Farahanipour, the owner of Delphi Greek Restaurant and Bar, said in a talk that he hopes the agreement resolves the war in Iran.<\/p>\n The Rotary Club of Westwood Village \u2013 which works to combat global social issues through promoting peace and education \u2013 organized the luncheon. <\/p>\n The Rotary Club of Westwood Village is one of over 60 rotary clubs in Los Angeles alone, said Benjamin Fisher, the co-president of the Westwood Village Rotary Club. The organization meets for lunch every Thursday to hold group conversations and host speakers, he added.<\/p>\n Ed Gauld, a former president of the Westwood Village Rotary Club, said gatherings and street protests in LA show that the conflict in Iran is an important issue for many people. He added that events like the luncheon allow people such as Farahanipour to educate the public.<\/p>\n Farahanipour, who was born in Tehran, Iran, said in a talk that he was seven years old when he witnessed the Iranian Revolution overthrow the Pahlavi monarchy in 1979. The revolution, fueled by discontent about Iran\u2019s autocratic regime, turned the country into an Islamic Republic, according to EBSCO.<\/p>\n After the revolution, Farahanipour said a group of people, who later became part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, attacked his Catholic school in Iran and arrested priests. <\/p>\n Farahanipour, a co-founder of the Marze Por Gohar resistance movement, an opposition group against the Islamic Republic, said he encouraged people to participate in the series of Iranian student uprisings in 1999. <\/p>\n