Iran Arrests Jewish Leaders Over Alleged Ties to Israel, Rights Group Says
Iranian authorities have arrested at least 700 people since mid-June on suspicion of collaborating with Israel during the recent war, including several Jewish religious figures and community leaders, according to exiled activists and Israeli media reports.
The French-Iranian women’s rights group Association Femme Azadi reported that rabbis and other leaders in Tehran and Shiraz were detained after being “accused, without evidence, of ties to Israel.” Multiple Israeli news sources reported that members of one Jewish family were arrested and their devices confiscated; the women were later released, but the men—including a rabbi—remain in custody.
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The London-based Iran International outlet reported widespread home raids targeting Jews in Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan. Some detainees were questioned over digital contact with relatives in Israel or past travel to the country—both serious offenses in Iran.
Iran’s state-linked Mehr News Agency, in contrast, published photos of a Jewish community gathering at Tehran’s Abrishami Synagogue on Thursday in support of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the military. Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi, Iran’s sole Jewish parliamentarian, attended the gatheringץ He reportedly emphasize the community’s loyalty to the regime and stressed that any harms caused to the Jewish community were the result of the Israeli campaign, such as damage to Jewish community buildings in the strikes.
Roughly 9,000 Jews still live in Iran, making it the largest Jewish population in the Middle East outside of Israel. Observers warn these arrests fit a pattern of scapegoating minorities during national crises.
Earlier this week, The Media Line’s Felice Friedson spoke to exiled Iranian opposition leader Ashkan Rostami about the threat of mass executions by the regime.
