The Mystery of Iran: Jewish and Christian communities in Iran support and cherish the Islamic Republic

The Middle-East region has been the focal point of attention over the past centuries due to its abundant natural resources and unique geopolitical importance. Nowadays, it is an incontrovertible fact that the oil-rich Middle-East is considered the heartbeat of the 21st-century economy.
Among the foreign players in the Middle-East, the United States has always sought to overcome any obstacle to cement its hegemony and influence in West Asia, but Iran constantly defies US villainous agendas. Hence, the Americans tried, to no avail, to sow seeds of sedition among the Iranians and provoke religious hostilities among them.
Iranians are predominantly Shia Muslims and it is not a secret fact that Islamic ideology was the driving force of the 1979 revolution which toppled the US-backed dictator, Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. But the surprising fact is that Iran’s other religious and ethnic minorities such as Jews, Armenian Christians and Zoroastrians also actively participated in the uprising against the Shah.
In the months leading to the victory of the Islamic revolution, Iran’s Jewish community issued communiqués, declaring their support for their fellow Muslim brethren’s struggle against an atheist tyrant.
“We have all the facilities we need for our rituals, and we can say our prayers very freely. We never have any problems. I can even tell you that, in many cases, we are more respected than Muslims,” the USA TODAY quoted Nejat Golshirazi, 60, rabbi of the synagogue in Tehran on December 2019.
“Many years ago, during the royal regime of Pahlavi, if it was raining in Iran, Jews were not allowed to go outside of their houses because it was believed that if a non-Muslim got wet and touched a Muslim it would make them dirty,” said Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi, 53, the chairman of the Tehran Jewish Committee.
There’s a Jewish representative in Iran’s 290-member Parliament. His name is Siamak Moreh Sedgh. Sedgh, 53, said one of the reasons Jews in Iran can live peacefully is that they consider themselves Iranians first – and Jews second.”We’re not an entity outside of the Iranian nation. We are part of it and we actively supported the Islamic revolution. I may pray in Hebrew, but I can only think in Persian (Farsi, Iran’s language),” said Sedgh, who is also a surgeon at a hospital in central Tehran, where USA TODAY spoke with him.
Moreover, Iranian Armenian communities are a vibrant minority with a strong presence. Iran is home to 150,000 Christian Armenians. Two seats in the Iranian Parliament are designated Armenian representation and northern Iran, once a part of several Armenian kingdoms, is also home to ancient Armenian monasteries listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites that enjoy national and international protection.
“I can go to America but I am only happy the moment it is announced on the aeroplane that we have entered into Iranian airspace. We love our country and society and history, ’the Financial Tribune cited Mr Alvandian, an old shopkeeper in Tehran’s Majidieh district.
Varand Isayans, a 19-year-old Armenian has no plans to leave. Speaking Farsi with an Armenian accent, he says in no other country can one make money through business-like in Iran. “Those who stupidly left Iran were either not wealthy or didn’t know how to use their business acumen,’’ he says. ‘’I know somebody who barely worked in Iran but now has to work more than 12 hours a day in America to survive.’’