Samu El Bayani Neek: Iranian in Anchorage discusses the war with Iran

Send us Fan MailSamu El Bayani Neek was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. At 12 his parents divorced, and he had to drop out of middle school to begin working as a barber. During this tumultuous period in his life, he discovered a church in Tehran and converted to Christianity. Under Iran's Islamic Regime, a Muslim who abandons Islam can be punished by death. At 20, Sam fled to Turkey where he lived for about 5 years waiting for his refugee application with the United Nations to be processed. In 2009 he was relocated to Anchorage as a refugee where he had to learn English, his sixth language, and where he has remained ever since. This interview took place on Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Anchorage, and was recorded with a phone. The quality is therefore suboptimal.