Agence France Presse
Sept 2 2007
Iran builds new cultural center for Jews
AFP
September 2, 2007
TEHRAN — Iran started building a huge new cultural and sports
complex for its Jewish minority in central Tehran Sunday, billing the
project as proof of the freedoms enjoyed by its religious minorities.
Housing and urban development minister Mohammad Saidi-Kia broke the
ground for the new building alongside Morris Motamed, the
representative of Iran’s Jewish community in parliament, the official
IRNA news agency reported.
The total cost for the project is 30 billion riyals ($3.2 million)
and the building will extend for 6,800 square meters (73,194 square
feet), around half of which will be devoted to sport, and half to
cultural activities, Motamed said.
It is expected to be finished in two-and-a-half years.
"In Iran, the followers of the different religions have freedoms
guaranteed in the constitution. The followers of the divine religions
are living under one flag," said Saidi-Kia.
Iran’s Jewish community numbers around 20,000 people, and remains the
largest in the Middle East after Israel, despite substantial
emigration in the aftermath of the Islamic revolution in 1979.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sparked an international outcry by
repeatedly predicting Israel is doomed to disappear, and also
questioning the scale of the Holocaust.
However, Iranian officials vehemently deny charges of anti-Semitism,
saying the Jewish minority is well treated, and the president’s
attacks are only against Israel – which the Islamic republic has
always refused to recognize.
The officially-recognized religious minorities in Iran are
Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians, all of whom are represented in
parliament.
The Armenians – by far the largest Christian community – already have
a well-established sports and cultural center in the north of Tehran.
However, Iran considers Bahais, who advocate the unity of all
religions, to be apostate, and the sect has none of the rights
enjoyed by the other minorities.
The UN General Assembly in December denounced what it said was
"increasing discrimination" against minorities, but Iran has always
insisted all its recognized religious communities enjoy full rights.