Najmabadi

MEMORANDUM **

Farangis Najmabadi (“Najmabadi”) petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeal’s (“BIA”) summary affirmation of the Immigration Judge’s (“IJ”) 1 order of removal and denial of asylum.

Substantial evidence supports the IJ’s determination that Najmabadi did not establish a well-founded fear of persecution on account of her imputed political opinion. Her testimony provides only a highly speculative link between her mishaps in the United States and the Iranian government. Najmabadi also testified that (1) she is not political; (2) she is not affiliated with any group that might be mistaken for political; (3) her friends and family are not subjected to harsh treatment in Iran, nor do they fear she will be; and (4) she did not believe she was important enough to merit the attention of the former Shah’s intelligence service. A reasonable factfinder could, therefore, easily reject her speculation as to the cause of her “harassment” in the United States, and the record does not compel a contrary result. See Ochave v. INS, 254 F.3d 859, 866 (9th Cir.2001).

*100 To the extent Najmabadi’s fear of persecution is based on her refusal to conform to the social norms of…