Synagogue in Tehran ‘completely destroyed’ in US-Israeli attack
Synagogue hit after attack on adjacent residential building, Mehr news agency reports.
Iran says US-Israeli projectile has struck a synagogue in Tehran
United States-Israeli strikes have “completely destroyed” a synagogue in Tehran, according to Iranian media, as the attacks across Iran killed more than a dozen people overnight.
“According to preliminary information, the Rafi-Nia Synagogue … was completely destroyed in this morning’s attacks,” the Shargh newspaper reported on Tuesday.
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According to Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, the synagogue was destroyed when an adjacent residential building in central Tehran was attacked.
Footage showed civil defence workers amid the rubble, with Hebrew-language books scattered on the ground.
The report said that due to the narrowness of the streets surrounding the building attacked, the exterior and interior of the nearby buildings were also “severely damaged”. There was no immediate report on casualties.
In a video published on Telegram by Iran’s official IRIB News outlet, Homayoun Sameh, a Jewish representative in the country’s Islamic Consultative Assembly, said “the Zionist regime showed no mercy to this community during the Jewish holidays and targeted one of our ancient and holy synagogues.
“Unfortunately, during this attack, the synagogue building was completely destroyed and our Torah scrolls were left under the rubble,” he said.
Iran’s Jewish community
Judaism is one of Iran’s legally recognised minority religions, and the country has a small Jewish community, although many members fled in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution.
There are no publicly available official numbers, but there are thought to be a few thousand Jewish people in Iran.
Shargh called the synagogue “one of the most important places for Khorasan Jews to gather and celebrate”, referring to the northeastern province of Iran.
The strikes were among a series of US-Israeli attacks overnight, in which at least 15 people were killed across Iran, local media reported.
Six bodies have been recovered from under the rubble of buildings in the city of Pardis, east of Tehran, Mehr reported.
Local officials said nine people were killed in an Israeli air attack on a residential neighbourhood in the city of Shahriar in the west of Tehran province.
