How a Bodybuilder Lifted His Way to the American Dream

Sam Bakhtiar is a bodybuilder who fled Tehran as a child during the Iran-Iraq War. After overcoming personal and financial obstacles, he achieved his own American Dream.

Sam Bakhtiar. Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times

When the Iran–Iraq War broke out in 1980, Sam Bakhtiar was a child. He can remember hearing sirens and the blackouts at night as bombs fell over Tehran, Iran.

“I remember looking at the sky and you see planes flying by dropping bombs, and you see anti-air missiles going up. So that’s how I lived between ages of 3 and 11,” Bakhtiar recalled.