This paper focuses on the causes and consequences of host hostility toward Iranian immigrants in the United States. It is a sociological truism that external hostility encourages in-group solidarity. Host hostility strengthens ethnicity and even translates into ethnic solidarity. The Iranian experience, however, challenges this causal relationship. Since the ‘Iranian Hostage Crisis’ in 1980— and perhaps even longer—Iranian immigrants have been periodically subjected to discrimination and prejudice in the US. Although the anti-Iranian sentiments initially expressed have subsided with time, they flare up again whenever the Iranian regime allegedly engages in an anti-American activity. Instead of reactive solidarity, however, some Iranians have opted to disassociate themselves from their nationality. This is especially the case for religious minorities from Iran (such as Christian Armenians, Baha is and Jews) who may identify more strongly with their religio-ethnic backgrounds than with their Iranian origin. Muslim Iranian immigrants do not have this option because they are, by and large, secular and nationalistic. Moreover, there are many negative stereotypes associated with being a Muslim in the US. Class resources (English proficiency, high levels of education), as well as professional and entrepreneurial occupations, have enabled Iranians as a whole to avoid conflict with Americans. At the same time these factors have reduced dependence on co-ethnics, thereby reducing the potential for ethnic solidarity. Any attachment to Iranian culture, language or national pride may be more closely associated with exile status than with host hostility.