Video summary
Robert Newton shares the compelling story of why his family left Iran in the late 1970s, a decision driven by both political foresight and financial pragmatism. His father had built a successful life in Iran working alongside British and American entities, which led to significant investments including three homes in California and an almond orchard near Fresno, leveraging the strong Armenian community there. However, as tensions rose with the impending revolution, a contact who was later revealed to be a CIA operative warned Robert's father that the United States planned to overthrow the Shah and install the Ayatollahs, promising chaos for those who remained. When the operative offered to secure their exit for $6 million—a sum far beyond their means—Robert's parents rejected the extortionate offer, recognizing that the country was indeed being destabilized but refusing to pay a ransom to leave.
Instead of paying the exorbitant fee, Robert's family chose to explore other options and eventually decided to immigrate to Canada after hearing positive reports about Vancouver from a colleague. They purchased plane tickets, traveled through Europe, and were immediately struck by the pristine, lush beauty of Vancouver, which stood in stark contrast to the scorching desert heat of their home near the Persian Gulf where summer temperatures could reach 50 degrees Celsius. Upon arriving in Canada, they found housing remarkably affordable; they bought a house in West Vancouver, an area known for having one of the highest per capita incomes in North America, for only $80,000 to $90,000. This financial opportunity allowed them to apply for landed immigrant status, and after being accepted, they departed Iran just two months before the Shah fled the country, narrowly escaping the violence as gunshots from nearby towns became audible even before their departure.
The family's transition was not without hardship, particularly in the first few years when they struggled with language barriers and the difficulty of adapting to a new culture without having time to pack up all their belongings. Despite these challenges, Robert emphasizes that his father's extreme work ethic enabled them to make ends meet and eventually prosper in their new environment. This dedication to hard work became a defining trait for the entire family, shaping their resilience and success in Canada. Ultimately, Robert views their escape as a stroke of luck, noting that they were fortunate to leave just before the revolution fully erupted, allowing them to rebuild their lives in a safe and beautiful country rather than facing the turmoil that soon engulfed Iran.
Read the full video transcript
Robert Newton, how you doing? What are
your family
Why did your family leave Iran? Just
curious. I don't think I've ever heard
the story.
Um
Our family had investments in the United
States, right? We had an
in the 19 mid-1970s, right? Uh
my father
he did well in Iran, right? Uh he worked
with a lot of Brits, a lot of Americans.
There's a lot of Armenians in
California. So, our family ended up
buying three homes in California at the
time in Fresno and had an almond orchard
in Fresno, near Fresno anyway, because
the Armenian community in Fresno was
very deep-rooted,
right?
Um
but when it come came close to the late
19
1970s,
my father had an American
um
person that was he was working for or
was involved in the projects that he was
working on.
Uh he found out he was CIA later,
obviously, right? He turned to my father
and said, "The United States is going to
get rid of the Shah and they've made a
deal with the Ayatollahs and they're
going to install the Ayatollahs.
And there's going to be a revolution.
So, you should get your family out of
Iran because it's going to be a little
bit chaotic, right?"
And since our family had investments in
California,
my father said, "Okay, we'll apply for
the green cards and stuff like this for
the United States." The CIA operative
said, "We can do it for you for $1
million a pop for the family. Six
members in the family, $6 million." My
father went, My father went, "What the
[ __ ]
You [ __ ] out of your mind?"
So, my mom and dad, what they did, they
said, "Let's look at other places,
right?" Because we didn't have $6
million
to do that, right? It's crazy. They're
They're overthrowing They're destroying
our country. They're overthrowing the
country. They're creating chaos in the
country, and they want $6 million
from a family to for them to leave,
right?
So, and my parents were looking into
coming to the United States anyway,
right?
So, my mom and dad bought a plane
ticket. They heard good things about
Vancouver, Canada from another co-worker
that my father was involved with.
So, they bought a ticket. They went to
Europe, traveled around, and they came
to Vancouver, Canada, got off the plane,
and this Remember, this is the late
1970s in Vancouver, Canada. [ __ ]
pristine, beautiful, green, lush. We
lived in a desert. Like, I'm talking
where the war is waging in the Gulf in
the Persian Gulf. We lived close to the
Persian Gulf water, where the
temperature in the summer would get to
like 50° C,
hot as [ __ ]
Desert. It's not like a desert like
normal desert you hear about. That's the
one of the
part of the Arabian desert, like hottest
areas in the world, right?
They came to Vancouver, and they went,
"Wow, this is beautiful." They looked at
houses, went, "Oh my god, this is cheap
as fuck."
We bought our first house. My parents
bought the first house
in
West Vancouver, one of the areas that
has the highest per capita income in all
of North America.
Bought a house there for
$80,000, $90,000, something ridiculous
cheap, right?
So, they went back to Iran, applied
for landed immigrant in Canada, and we
got accepted. And we left Iran about 2
months before the Shah left Iran. And
where the Iranian Revolution was
happening
at the time before we left, we could
hear the gunshots
from the town that we were close to.
Okay? So,
the the
the destabilizing had already started
and we left Iran 2 months
before the Shah left Iran and we were
lucky.
We didn't, you know, my family didn't
get to pull out everything and whatnot,
right? But my dad was a hard worker,
extremely hard worker. That's where I
get my
genetics, my
uh
my work ethic from. That's where our
whole family got our work ethic from, my
mom and my dad, right? We work our
[ __ ] asses off. And my dad, you know,
even though it was
uh hard, it was extremely hard for the
first few years. We didn't speak English
or anything.
Um we were able to make the ends meet
and prosper.