
Davood Iranian driver’s license issued to Kaheh at age 17. Submitted Photos
Thirteen years ago my daughter, Nikki, called from Phoenix and gave me some disturbing news. She told me she had begun dating an Iranian limousine driver named Davood Kaheh. I was speechless. At that time in world history, I figured that nothing good could possibly come of this. After allowing me to vent, Nikki tried to cheer me up. “He’s a real gentleman,” she said, “and is treating me well. He actually owns seven limousines.” Thus began my family’s involvement with the fourth great wave of immigration into this country. It was caused primarily by political repression and consisted mostly of Asians and Hispanics.
In November 1973, Davood Kaheh was born in Tehran, to a middle class family. He had two brothers and three sisters. His father was a bus mechanic and owned his own shop. His mother stayed home to care for the children. They lived in a leafy section

Tehran, looking north. The Kaheh family lived close to these mountains.
It wasn’t much fun growing up in Iran. The morality police saw to that. They

German driver’s license issued to Davood Kaheh at age 29.

Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ruled Iran from 1941 to 1979. He had a cozy relationship with the West and allowed his subjects to live accordingly. Davood Kaheh was born in the last six years of Pahlavi’s reign.

This submitted photo was captioned “Explaining the dress code in Iran.” Police woman at left appears to be reporting the violation on her mobile phone, while the apparent squad leader (brown head covering) gets into the victims face while clutching a truncheon. An egregious offense could bring the truncheon into play.
Arriving in Istanbul in 1995, the dealer put Davood up in a hotel that the dealer owned and told him to wait, assuring him that he would pay all of Davood’s expenses until he got to Germany. The dealer was as good as his word but the wait stretched out to almost two years.
“I was about to give up and return to Iran,” Davood said, “but one day he

Morality police confront the woman dressed in green. These confrontations were often followed by detentions and occasional public beatings. It must have been a terrifying experience.
Bosnia and paid Davood’s fine for overstaying his visa. Three other “very rich kids” accompanied Davood for the rest of the trip into Germany. “It must have cost over $30K to support me for those two years, but for some reason, the dealer never asked to be repaid,” said Davood, “It was kind of a miracle.”
After arriving in Bosnia, the rest of the trip was made by car with stops in Croatia, Serbia, and Rome. In Bosnia the travelers were told to surrender their Iranian passports and later furnished with counterfeit ones. At each stop there were people ready to take the young men into their own homes. The crews that met them at each stop were professional, educated, well mannered, and well prepared. “There were no hiccups in the arrangements as

Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini established a theocracy in 1979, instituting strict protocols for every facet of life in Iran, based on his interpretation of the Koran. He also established the “morality police” to make sure these protocols were being carried out. Davood was age 6 at Khomeini’s accession to power.
After getting settled in Hamburg, Davood visited the Iranian embassy in Frankfurt (round trip of 489 miles) to replace his counterfeit passport with a genuine one. He told them he had lost the original. He readily found work in the food services industry as a janitor, bartender, server, line cook and chef. He worked long hours, but didn’t seem to be getting anywhere and was feeling discouraged. A fellow Persian, with whom he was living, offered some advice, which would

A typical 1980’s Tehran street on which Davood’s father, Reza (he was named after the Shah’s brother), and later Davood, might have set up shop. Each operated his own business.
A few months later, three days after 9/11/01, he kept his appointment with the U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt. He had previously sent them a background check from the Hamburg Police Department, a letter of support from a friend, and reference letters from four employers extolling his work ethic and skills as a cook. The 45-minute meeting with consular officials seemed to center on Davood’s cooking skills. Speaking no English, the interview was conducted in Farsi through a Persian translator. Davood was last to be interviewed and opened with an expression of sympathy for the American victims of 9/11. Davood had been genuinely moved

The U.S. Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, where Davood was interviewed and welcomed into the United States.
Finally, On July 28, 2003, following consulate instructions, Davood flew to Atlanta where the documents he would need were waiting for him.
Next Edition – Part II, The American Dream.
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