TEHRAN — A synagogue in Tehran was completely destroyed overnight by what Iran described as Israeli air strikes.”The synagogue building was completely destroyed and our Torah scrolls were left under the rubble,” said Homayoun Sameh, a lawmaker representing Iran’s Jewish community, one of the Middle East’s largest outside Israel.”The Zionist regime showed no mercy to this community during the Jewish holidays and targeted one of our ancient and holy synagogues,” the Jewish member of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly said in a video published on Telegram.“According to preliminary information, the Rafi-Nia Synagogue … was completely destroyed in this morning’s attacks,” the Shargh newspaper reported on Tuesday.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.Judaism is one of Iran’s legally recognized 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. — AgenciesTEHRAN — A synagogue in Tehran was completely destroyed overnight by what Iran described as Israeli air strikes.”The synagogue building was completely destroyed and our Torah scrolls were left under the rubble,” said Homayoun Sameh, a lawmaker representing Iran’s Jewish community, one of the Middle East’s largest outside Israel.”The Zionist regime showed no mercy to this community during the Jewish holidays and targeted one of our ancient and holy synagogues,” the Jewish member of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly said in a video published on Telegram.“According to preliminary information, the Rafi-Nia Synagogue … was completely destroyed in this morning’s attacks,” the Shargh newspaper reported on Tuesday.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.Judaism is one of Iran’s legally recognized 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. — Agencies
