The Jews in Iran

I was surprised by the public hangings though as I had thought of Iran to be a modern nation despite being headed by a religious figure. So I looked up various documentaries on iran and was surprised by many aspects.

There are 10,000 – 25,000 jews in Iran although Iran considers Israel to be an enemy. The Jews in Iran have the same rights as others, and are even free to travel to Israel or the US. The Jews there have never experienced anti-semitism and prefer living in Iran though they could immigrate to lsrael anytime as Jews.

The Jews have their own schools, run charity hospitals and have freedom of worship. Unlike the rest of the world, the synagogues in Tehran don’t even need any security.

Persian Jews have lived in the territories of today's Iran for over 2,700 years. They were expelled from the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrian (then Iraq) king who had annexed it. But in Persia (now Iran), the Jews had sanctuary, and in the 6^th century, the Persian kings enabled Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild its temple.