Sometimes love arrives from the most unexpected place, at the most unplanned moment. Dean, 30, a reserve combat operative from the Golani Brigade, never imagined a casual night out at a bar in Santa Monica would lead him to the woman who would become the love of his life.
“We met in 2019 at a popular UCLA student bar,” he recalled. “We talked and exchanged details, but we didn’t really stay in touch. Only during the COVID period did we start speaking again.”
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Dean and Azadeh come from different worlds, different religions and countries that are enemies
(Photo: Nati Hortig)
At the time, he was visiting Israel and posted a photo on Instagram from a Persian restaurant in Tel Aviv’s Levinsky Market. “She saw it and wrote, ‘Wow, it looks beautiful.’ I replied that we hadn’t seen each other in a long time and suggested we go out when I returned to L.A."
A few months later, after he returned to the U.S., he called her. The two met for their first date and quickly became a couple. Today, they are engaged. On the surface, it might sound like a typical love story, but there is one detail that makes it unusual: the two come from different worlds, different religions and countries that are officially enemies. Dean is Israeli. His fiancée is from Iran.
Azadeh, whose name was changed to protect her privacy, is neither Jewish nor Muslim. She explained that many Iranians do not define themselves as Muslim because Islam conquered Persia centuries ago and the country was not originally a Muslim power. For her, Dean’s Jewish identity was never an obstacle.
“I don’t look at people based on their religion. It doesn’t matter to me and it’s not relevant,” she said. “The fact that he’s Jewish excited me because I really love Jews and I was very curious,” she said. “I wanted to ask him many questions about his culture and about Israel.”
Azadeh immigrated to the U.S. from the city of Isfahan in 2013 when she was 18. She said she had not wanted to leave Iran, despite the restrictions and difficulties she experienced growing up there. Her aunt urged her to move. Her mother flew with her to Los Angeles, left her with the aunt and returned to Iran, where she lives with Azadeh’s brother.
Azadeh has not seen them since. Because of concerns for their safety, she asked that her real name and photograph not be published. The fear of arrest was also a constant reality during her life in Iran, though it did not stop her from rebelling in small ways.
“Usually when you reach age nine, you have to wear a hijab according to Islamic law,” she said. “But I was such a skinny child and didn’t have a woman’s figure yet, so I managed to avoid it by wearing boys’ clothes. When I turned 14, I had no choice. My mother didn’t want me to get arrested, as she knew what they did to girls in prison.”
Despite the restrictions, she managed to watch American televisionTV shows through satellite services, which exposed her to life abroad. “I also visited London and Dubai. Even though I saw how young people live outside Iran, I never thought about leaving,” she said. “If it were up to me and my mother had listened to me, I would still be in Iran today. I would want to be there to see the regime fall.”
Dean studied nutrition science and food engineering in the U.S. When the Swords of Iron war broke out in October 2023, he returned to Israel for reserve duty and rejoined his military unit. During the war, he lost several friends, including his commander, whom he was very close to.
“He was like a father figure to me, especially because my own father wasn’t part of my life,” Dean said. “When I wanted to study in the U.S., he encouraged me. He told me, ‘I know you have the talent. I believe in you. Go do it. Make your mother proud.’” The war affected him deeply. “I was in a bad place,” he said. “His death hit me very hard.”
Six months after they began dating, Dean proposed. Both families welcomed the engagement warmly. Azadeh does not rule out converting to Judaism, but says it would be a personal decision rather than for the sake of marriage.
“It wouldn’t be for him or for our future children,” she said. “Our children will be raised Jewish anyway, but they’ll be free to decide whether they want to be religious and observe the commandments or not.”
Dean says he does not pressure her to convert. Although he puts on tefillin daily and prays regularly, he sees his partner first as a person. “I love her because of the person she chose to be, kind, generous and supportive, which is everything I could ask for in a woman,” he said. “We don’t control the country we’re born in or the religion we’re born into, but we do control who we become.”
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Dean and Azadeh. Neither imagined they would meet the love of their life far from home
(Photo: Nati Hortig)
Several years ago, Dean joined "Israel-Is", a public diplomacy organization founded in 2017 by former elite Israeli army officers. After completing their military service and traveling abroad, the founders encountered hostility and misconceptions simply because they were Israeli.
The organization initially trained young Israelis before their post-army travels to help them navigate difficult conversations about Israel. Over time, Israel-Is expanded its activities in Israel and abroad to strengthen connections and encourage dialogue.
Since joining, Dean has spoken on about 20 college campuses, sharing his personal story with students. Not every encounter goes smoothly. “I just returned from Oklahoma and Arkansas,” he said. “At one meeting, someone told my colleague, who survived the October 7 terror attack, ‘You should have died that day.’”
Terrible. How did you respond?
“To be honest, it didn’t surprise me,” he said. “Why should I be shocked? We’ve seen this hatred of Jews throughout history. What matters is how we respond. When people wish us harm, others watching from the side tend to gravitate toward whoever reacts rationally.”
Recently, he launched a new initiative that brings Israeli and Iranian speakers together to talk with students about their lives and encourage dialogue. Each meeting takes place in a setting designed to resemble a Middle Eastern living room, complete with Persian carpets, tea and sweets, creating a relaxed atmosphere.
“We want to invite them into our living room,” Dean said. “We show them how the regime in Iran shaped our lives as Israelis and how it shaped life for people inside Iran. Many people simply aren’t aware, and we want them to hear our personal voices.”
Dean asked that his face not be shown in the article because former Israeli soldiers can face legal and security risks abroad. “Pro-Palestinian organizations are looking for Israeli soldiers around the world,” he said. “They follow Israeli media to identify them, and when they travel abroad, they try to issue arrest warrants against them.”
Despite the war and political tensions between their countries, Dean and Azadeh are looking toward the future. One day, they hope to visit each other’s homelands together, walking the streets of Tel Aviv and Tehran and finally introducing their families to one another.
First published: 15:26, 03.16.26