PRESS RELEASE

Iranian Jews Reject
Netanyahu's Warmongering

Oct. 3, 2013 (EIRNS)—Today's Washington Post reports that Iran's large community of Jews rejects Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claims about institutionalized anti-semitism in Iran, and his charges about Iran President Hassan Rouhani being a "wolf in sheep's clothing." Following a mass exodus of Jews from Iran following the 1979 revolution, their number has remained relatively constant, at about 30,000. Jews say they are allowed to practice their religion openly in Iran, and they are free to leave if they wish.

Although most Israeli leaders oppose any thaw in the U.S.-Iranian relationship, Iranian Jews, along with most Iranians, believe that restored ties with the United States could lead to an easing of international sanctions. In an interview, the chairman of Iran's Jewish Association, Homayun Sameyah, said that the Rosh Hashanah greetings that Rouhani and his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, posted on Facebook and Twitter last month reflected a friendlier approach to Jews everywhere on the part of Iran's leaders. He drew a contrast between the new president and Ahmadinejad.

"During the Ahmadinejad years, because of his Holocaust denial, some Jewish activists had problems here, but now that we see that Rouhani has a different opinion, we're hopeful that such difficulties are behind us."

Ciamak Morsadegh, Iran's Jewish representative in the Parliament, says:

"We are not tenants in this country. We are Iranians, and we have been for thirty centuries."