Jews in Iran since the Revolution of 1979:

Caught between a rock and a hard place?

Content

Introduction 3

The Past 4

The Revolution of 1979 and its aftermath 7

The Present 10

BIBLIOGRAPHY 15

Introduction

When addressing Israel, Mr. Ahmadinejad′s rhetoric is unmistakable. The Iranian President is

quoted as calling for Israel to be wiped off the map1, and he has publicly expressed his doubts as to

the Holocaust having taken place. Although his rhetoric may appear extreme, it nevertheless

broadly reflects the official policy of Iran towards Israel since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Given this hostility, it comes as a surprise, that the Islamic Republic of Iran is actually home of the

biggest Jewish community in the Middle East outside Israel. The estimates for the number of Jews

living in Iran differ greatly according to various sources and range from 25,000 members2? to

35,0003? . The history of the Jewish community in Iran reaches back into the 7th century BCE,

making it the oldest Jewish Diaspora-community. Many places holy to Jews are located in Iran. The

history of almost 3,000 years of Jewish presence in Iran and the influence the Jewish community

had at different times on Iranian society and culture are far too complex to be retold in a short essay

like the one I am presenting. Before I turn to the situation after the Revolution of 1979 I will

therefore only shortly touch on two major historical events which have significantly altered the

position of the Jewish community in Iran: The establishment of Twelver Shiism as state religion in

1501 by the Safavids and the Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911.

The main body of this text deals with the situation of the Jewish community during and immediately

after the constitution of the Islamic Republic until the present. The Iranian constitution grants all

officially recognised religious minorities (Armenian Christians, Assyrians, Jews and Zoroastrians)

specific rights including that to practise their religion freely4. The recognised religious minorities

elect their own representatives to the parliament (Majles), run their own schools and are protected

1 In a speech at the World without Zionism conference in Tehran (2005) he said: "The regime occupying Jerusalem

must vanish from the page of time" (s o u r c e : G u a r d i a n , 1 2 . 0 7 . 2 0 0 7 )

2 David Shariatmadari, "Comment is free: Iran′s forgotten religions." Guardian Online, C o m m e n t i s f r e e .

3 Eliz Sanasarian, R e l i g i o u s M i n o r i t i e s i n I r a n Cambridge Middle East Studies, 2 edn (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 2002), 13, p. 228.

4 The main Article of the constitution warranting religious freedoms to certain religious minorities is Article 13. It

states: "Z o r o a s t r i a n , J e w i s h , a n d C h r i s t i a n I r a n i a n s a r e t h e o n l y r e c o g n i z e d r e l i g i o u s m i n o r i t i e s , w h o , w i t h i n t h e

l i m i t s o f t h e l a w , a r e f r e e t o p e r f o r m t h e i r r e l i g i o u s r i t e s a n d c e r e m o n i e s , a n d t o a c t a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r o w n c a n o n i n

m a t t e r s o f p e r s o n a l a f f a i r s a n d r e l i g i o u s e d u c a t i o n . " (Translation provided by the Iranian Government, source:

against discrimination by the law. However, there have been instances of ′spontaneous′ attacks on

Jews, their property and their schools. I will also research how much Iran′s animosity towards Israel

was and is being reflected in its treatment of the Jewish minority in Iran. Because of the relative

scarcity of primary sources, I will use a variety of secondary sources of varying quality and will

therefore specifically indicate if I am concerned with the reliability of a source I have used.

The Past

Jews are amongst the oldest communities in Iran. The earliest mention of Jews in what is today′s

Iran dates back to the time of the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III (727 BCE), under whose order

thousands of Jews were deported from Israel and forced to settle in Medea5?. Others followed in the

centuries to come. The biggest wave of Jewish settlers arrived during the reign of Darius the Great.

It appears that the Jews in Iran lived for many centuries in relative harmony, as a fully integrated

part of society, with their neighbours from other religions. Freedom of religion, movement,

occupation and marriage were guaranteed under the Achaemenian6?. After the conquest of the old

Persian empire by Islamic forces (633 ­ 651 CE), the official status of the Jewish religion changed

from that of a fully emancipated and acknowledged religion amongst others to that of "Ahl al-

Katab" (People of the book). Sanasarin describes the position of the People of the Book in Safavid

Persia as follows:

"Ahl al-Katab were originally Jews and Christians based on the possession of divine books of

revelation. Their privileged position was conditional based on the submission to Muslims and

payment of jazieh (a special tax paid by the non-Muslims to the Muslim ruler)7?."

In Iran, the status of Ahl al-Katab was informally extended to the Zoroastrians, Iran′s old indigenous

http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-1.html). Notably, other religions including

Hinduism, Baha-i and Buddhism are not protected by Article 13.

5 Farshid Delshad, "A Short Review about Historical Backgrounds of Jews in Persia." O r i e n t a l i s t i c . c o m .