Iran’s Islamic Republic has systematically persecuted its Jewish community

For too long, the world has ignored a harsh truth: the Islamic Republic of Iran and the fanatic clerics who control it have built their identity and ideology on virulent antisemitism and intimidation, and they have done so directly at the expense of one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world.

Long before the Ayatollahs seized power in 1979, Jews had lived in Iran for more than 2,500 years; this date dates back to Biblical times, when they took refuge there after the destruction of the First Temple. More recently, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pavlavi, Jewish life in Iran, although far from perfect, entered one of the most stable and prosperous periods in modern history; It was marked by legal equality in practice, expanding economic opportunities, and a growing sense of security.

Jews were granted civil rights, were allowed to participate in government and professional life, and benefited from the Shah’s broader secular reforms that weakened religious discrimination and opened up Iranian society. By the 1970s, the vast majority of Iranian Jews were middle class or wealthy, and the community was deeply integrated with 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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Everything changed overnight with the Islamic Revolution.

Even before he seized power from the first Ayatollah Shah, Ruhollah Khomeini repeatedly used hateful and emotional rhetoric in his sermons that went well beyond political opposition to Israel, drawing on broader anti-Semitic themes, depicting Jews as enemies of Islam and even as a global force working against it. Claiming that Jews seek world domination and are “opposed to the foundations of Islam”, he framed them as both religious and political enemies who must be fought and suppressed at all costs.

He claimed that international Jews supported and supported the Shah and that the overthrown monarchy should be punished for their crimes. This language and the doctrine of scapegoating Jews were fundamental to the Ayatollah’s beliefs and worldview, and he easily blurred the line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, embedding anti-Semitism in the ideological foundations of the Islamic Republic.

The rise of the Islamic Republic’s new mullah regime led to a wave of fear and persecution. One of the first 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. After a swift and staged trial lasting several hours before a “revolutionary tribunal” in which no defense was allowed, the businessman was publicly executed by firing squad in May 1979.

Iranian demonstrators burn a representation of the Israeli flag at an annual rally in front of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, marking the 45th anniversary of Iranian students seizing the embassy and starting the hostage crisis. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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His death sent shockwaves through the Jewish community. Elghanian was deeply integrated into Iranian society and affiliated with the country’s elite; If someone of his level could be killed so suddenly, it was clear that no one was safe. His execution was not about justice; this was a warning to Jews throughout Iran and the Persian diaspora.

And it was heard. In the years that followed, tens of thousands of Iranian Jews fled, abandoning their homes, businesses and heritage dating back 2,500 years, as one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities was rapidly evacuated. Those who dared to stay faced a new and dangerous reality. Property was confiscated, surveillance was imposed, and other Jews were similarly arrested on trumped-up charges of espionage and corruption. Community leaders were completely silenced. And an atmosphere of suspicion, intimidation and paranoia became the norm. The regime deliberately drew a dangerous line between Judaism and Zionism and then began to blur that line when convenient, using accusations of allegiance to Israel as a weapon against its own Jewish citizens.

Even today, Iran’s 8,000-10,000 Jews live under a cloud of oppression. Yes, technically they are allowed to practice their religion. Synagogues still stand, and Jews are allowed to celebrate Shabbat 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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An Iranian Jewish man prays next to a grave at a Jewish cemetery in Tehran, southern Iran, on February 6, 2025. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

They are often pressured to publicly condemn Israel and Zionism; These are political litmus tests that no other religious minority has to endure. In the Parliament, Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly, the regime maintains the appearance of minority participation by reserving a seat for a Jewish representative, but this parliamentary representation operates under strict political restrictions. Member of Parliament Homayoun Sameh Najafabad should align with the positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, especially on key issues such as Israel and the legitimacy of the regime, by limiting true independence or advocacy. As a result, it appears that he serves as a pathetic fig leaf and puppet of the mullahs, presenting an image of Israel and the US’s tolerance while being forced to publicly condemn them.

If Jews cross the line, the consequences can be severe. The famous Shiraz case of 1999 is a striking example of this. More than a dozen Jews were arrested and accused of spying for Israel; The accusations were widely condemned as unfounded. Following international outcry, some were eventually released, but only after enduring imprisonment, repression and public humiliation. The message was clear: no one in the Islamic Republic or the Jewish community is beyond reach.

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I have seen this cruelty firsthand in my own work. In 1994, I legally represented the families of 12 Iranian Jews who were kidnapped while trying to cross the Iranian border into Pakistan to get to safety. They disappeared; No hearing, no information about their arrest, no response.

Even though years passed, their fate was unknown to the families. Their tortured wives and children lived in painful uncertainty, fearing that some of these men might still be alive, languishing in Iranian prisons and forgotten by the world. Rewards were offered to those who provided information regarding their whereabouts and were announced via radio broadcasts. Extensive efforts by those inside and outside Iran failed to uncover their circumstances until Israeli intelligence services met with families now living in Israel in 2007 and informed them that their loved ones were no longer alive.

A billboard showing Iran’s religious leaders since 1979: (From left) Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (until 1989), Ali Khamenei (until 2026), and Mojtaba Khamenei (incumbent) are displayed on a highway in Tehran on March 10, 2026. Iran marked the appointment of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father. Leader on March 9, 2026. (via AFP/Getty Images)

This was not just an isolated human rights case; It was part of a broader pattern. The same regime that suppresses the country’s Jewish minority through fear is exporting its hatred abroad, financing terrorism and targeting Jewish communities around the world; Like the horrific bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina in July 1994 that killed 85 people and injured more than 300. Therefore, his anti-Semitism is not rhetorical; in working order.

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But despite all this, the world often turns its eyes away. There is a tendency to separate Iran’s internal repression from its external aggression as if they were 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 Iranian Jews is a story of resistance, but also a warning. It reminds us of how quickly a thriving community can be reduced to living in fear and terror. It shows what happens when tolerance is replaced by extreme ideology and when the international community does not hold perpetrators accountable but treats human rights violations as internal affairs.

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We look forward to the day when the Jewish community in Iran will rise again as a community free from the shadow of oppression and restored to dignity, security and true prosperity.