Synagogue in Iran vandalized, US Jewish group calls on Iranian government to take all necessary steps to protect the community

NEW YORK—The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations has condemned acts of vandalism at a synagogue in Iran.

The Hadash Synagogue in Shiraz, a city located in southern Iran, was vandalized, with two Torah scrolls found torn to pieces and siddurim discovered in the bathroom.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 10, a member of the Shiraz Jewish community, said the damage was documented by journalists and three local Jews.

“The rioters tore a prayer book and Torah scrolls, blew up lamps and broke the glass windows,” he said.

Stephen M. Greenberg and Malcolm Hoenlein — Chairman and Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations — said they were “deeply concerned by the reports of the vandalism of the Hadash Synagogue in the Maleh neighborhood of Shiraz, in which several Torah scrolls were desecrated and many prayer books destroyed.”

“We call upon the authorities in Shiraz and the central government in Tehran to take all necessary steps to protect the community and bring the perpetrators to swift justice,” they said in a statement.

Iran was once home to a large Jewish community. But many Iranian Jews fled the country following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Around 8,500 Jews still live in the country, mainly in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz.