Habib Elghanian's Execution

As mentioned before, Habib Elghanian was one of the most recognized faces in Iran’s Jewish community. He had thrived tremendously under the Shah’s regime, so his death came as a shock to the Iranian Jewry. This sentiment is captured in the 1979 New York Times article, “Zionist Warns Iran about Harm to Jews,” claiming that “The execution of a top Jewish community leader in Iran by Islamic Revolutionaries has created ‘a very dangerous situation,’ arousing alarm among Jews everywhere, according to the chairman of the World Zionist Organization and head of the Jewish Agency.”[12] Elghanian may not have been the head of the Jewish organization in Iran, but his execution left a great impact on the Jewry. He had thrived under the Shah’s regime and

We [and the Jews] together are against Zionism […] they [the Zionists] are not Jews! They are politicians that claim to work in the name of Judaism, but they hate Jews […] the Jews, as the other communities, are part of Iran, and Islam treats them all fairly.”[14] Such a statement offers little reassurance of their safety, for most Iranian Jews are Zionists as well.[15] His death created an atmosphere of fear amongst Iranian Jews, who were already concerned about their safety due to such comments. The execution made Jews fear that if a well-made, respected man such as Elghanian could be killed so easily in the new regime, there is a possibility that other Iranian Jews could end up with the same fate, no matter their social

As stated before, Fayazmanesh claims that it was external economic incentives and scare tactics by Israel which caused Iranian Jews to emigrate from Iran. However, my research focuses on the internal factors within the country that caused the Jewish population to emigrate. The 1979 Los Angeles Times article, “Many Leaving: Iran’s Jews—A Threatened Community,” states: “What worries the Jewish community are leaflets and wall posters that carried threatening warnings to Jews. One of these on a Tehran street said: ‘Death to Jews and Bahai’s,’ another large non-Moslem sect in Iran. These messages, in turn, provoked various kinds of rumors about even more threats against Jews in Iran.”[16] Likewise, the 1979 Chicago Tribune newspaper article, “Non-Moslems fear return to Iran,” contains a similar message, stating the following quote by an Iranian Jew, Parviz: “I left Tehran after my father and I went to the synagogues and the Moslems made every Jew read a pamphlet which said we were going to die in camps and that the second Hitler was at hand.” [17] Anti-Semitism is not exclusive to Iran, and has been a part of many of the areas where Jews have resided in. With the introduction of Khomeini’s Republic came an intertwine between Sharia law and governmental decree. Under Sharia law, Jews were granted courtesy and safety, as they were considered ‘People of the Book,’ and many higher-level ulema held