To call my part of London ‘Little Tehran’ isn’t quite right | Letter

Diaspora spaces are not replicas, writes Mehrdad Aref-Adib , who was born in Tehran and lives in Finchley, north London I was born in Tehran, but I have lived in London for most of my life. Over time, whatever I brought with me settled into place. The distance between “here” and “there” never disappeared, but it became something I could live with. Lately, that distance feels thinner. Two recent articles ( ‘Sense of doom’: fear and foreboding over Iran war among London’s divided diaspora, 6 March ; British-Iranians in UK report safety concerns to authorities amid Iran war, 22 March ) describe parts of Finchley as “Little Tehran”. The reporting captures something real. Many of us recognise the anxiety of checking the news too often, thinking about family, and sensing distant events pressing closer. Continue reading...

Go to News Site