For too long, the world has ignored a painful truth: the Islamic Republic of Iran and the fanatical clerics that control it have built their identity and ideology on vicious antisemitism and intimidation, and they have done so at the direct expense of one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world.
Long before the ayatollahs seized power in 1979, Jews had lived in Persia for more than 2,500 years — dating back to biblical times, when they found refuge there after the destruction of the First Temple. More recently, under the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pavlavi, while far from perfect, Jewish life in Iran entered one of its most stable and prosperous periods in modern history — marked by practical legal equality, expanding economic opportunities and a growing sense of security.
Jews were granted civil rights, permitted to participate in government and professional life and benefited from the Shah’s broader secular reforms that weakened religious discrimination and opened Iranian society. By the 1970s, the vast majority of Iranian Jews were middle class or affluent, and the community was deeply integrated into the country’s academic, medical and economic elite. Jewish schools, synagogues and businesses flourished. Iranian Jews were integrated into society, contributing to the country’s economy, culture and professional life. Tehran had become a thriving center of Jewish life.
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That all changed overnight with the Islamic Revolution.
Even before seizing power from the Shah, the first Ayatollah, Ruhollah Khomeini repeatedly employed hateful and emotional rhetoric in his sermons that went far beyond political opposition to Israel and drew on broader anti-Jewish themes, portraying Jews as enemies of Islam and even as a global force working against it. He claimed that Jews sought world domination and were “opposed to the very foundations of Islam,” framing them as both religious and political enemies who had to be fought and suppressed at all costs.
He claimed that international Jewry had supported and bolstered the Shah and had to be punished for the overthrown monarchy’s crimes. This language and the doctrine of scapegoating the Jews was fundamental to the Ayatollah’s beliefs and worldview, and it readily blurred the line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, embedding hostility toward Jews within the very ideological foundation of the Islamic Republic.
The rise of the Islamic Republic’s new mullah regime ushered in a wave of fear and persecution. One of the earliest and most chilling signals came with the arrest, sham trial and execution of Habib Elghanian, a prominent Jewish industrialist, philanthropist and community leader. Imprisoned shortly after the Iranian Revolution, he was accused of “corruption” and ties to Israel — charges widely understood as politically motivated. Following a swift and staged hour-long proceeding before a “revolutionary court”, in which no defense was permitted, the businessman was publicly executed by firing squad in May 1979.
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His death sent shock waves through the Jewish community. Elghanian was deeply integrated into Iranian society and connected to the country’s elite — if someone of his stature could be murdered so abruptly, it made clear that no one was safe. His execution was not about justice; it was a warning to Jews throughout Iran and in the Persian diaspora.
And it was heard. In the years that followed, tens of thousands of Iranian Jews fled, abandoning homes, businesses and a heritage that stretched back over 2,500 years, as one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities was rapidly emptied out. Those who dared to remain faced a new and dangerous reality. Property was seized, surveillance was imposed, and other Jews were similarly arrested on trumped-up charges of spying and corruption. Community leaders were completely silenced. And an atmosphere of suspicion, intimidation and paranoia became the norm. The regime drew a deliberate and dangerous line between Judaism and Zionism, then proceeded to blur it whenever convenient — using accusations of loyalty to Israel as a weapon against its own Jewish citizens.
Even today, Iran’s 8,000-10,000 Jews live under a cloud of coercion. Yes, they are technically allowed to practice their religion. Synagogues still stand and Jews are permitted to celebrate the Sabbath and holidays. But this superficial tolerance masks a deeper truth: their security is conditional and fragile. Iranian Jews must constantly prove their “loyalty” to the regime.
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They are often pressured to publicly denounce Israel and Zionism — political litmus tests that no other religious minority is forced to endure. In Iran’s Majlis, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the regime maintains the appearance of minority inclusion by reserving a seat for a Jewish representative, but this parliamentary representation operates under strict political constraints. The MP, Homayoun Sameh Najafabad, must align with the positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, particularly on core issues like Israel and regime legitimacy, limiting any genuine independence or advocacy. As a result, it is understood that he functions as a pathetic fig leaf and puppet of the Mullahs, providing an image of their tolerance as he is compelled to publicly condemn Israel and the United States.
The consequences of Jews stepping out of line can be severe. The infamous Shiraz case in 1999 is a stark example. More than a dozen Jews were arrested and accused of spying for Israel — charges widely condemned as baseless. After an international outcry, some were eventually released, but only after enduring imprisonment, coercion and public humiliation. The message was unmistakable: no one in the Islamic Republic or its Jewish community is beyond reach.
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I have seen this cruelty firsthand in my own work. I legally represented the families of 12 Iranian Jews who were kidnapped in 1994 while attempting to cross the border from Iran into Pakistan to safety. They simply vanished — no trial, no acknowledgment of their arrests, no answers.
Years had passed, yet their fate remained unknown to the families. Their tortured wives and children lived in a state of agonizing uncertainty, fearing that some of these men may still be alive, languishing in Iranian prisons, forgotten by the world. Rewards for information about their whereabouts were offered and publicized by radio broadcasts. Exhaustive efforts by those within and outside Iran could not reveal their circumstances, until the Israeli intelligence services in 2007 met with the families now living in Israel, and informed them that their loved ones were no longer alive.
This was not just an isolated human rights case — it is part of a broader pattern. The same regime that fearfully represses its Jewish minority at home exports its hatred abroad, funding terror and targeting Jewish communities globally, such as the horrific bombing of the Jewish community center in Argentina in July 1994 in which 85 people were killed and more than 300 injured. As such, its antisemitism is not rhetorical; it is operational.
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And yet, despite all of this, the world too often looks away. There is a tendency to separate Iran’s internal repression from its external aggression, as if they are unrelated. They are not. A regime that persecutes and terrorizes its own citizens based on religion cannot be trusted to respect the lives or rights of others beyond its borders.
The story of Iran’s Jews is one of resilience, but it is also a warning. It reminds us how quickly a thriving community can be reduced to living in fear and terror. It shows what happens when extremist ideology replaces tolerance, and when the international community fails to hold perpetrators accountable and treats their human rights violations as domestic matters.
We long for the day when the Jewish community in Iran will rise again — a community restored to dignity, security and true prosperity, free from the shadow of persecution.
