Advertisement
The Islamic Republic has subsequently arrested or harassed dozens of Jews, and allegedly executed over 20, on accusations of spying for national archenemy Israel. Over the course of his 2005 to 2013 presidency, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad famously denied the Holocaust, while his vice president, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, accused Jews of being drug dealers. This and other vitriolic (but sometimes mistranslated and misrepresented) statements led then-Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu to in 2007 directly compare Iran to Nazi Germany. The equation has not been helped by continued signs of clandestine operations, open rhetoric, and public sentiment violently condemning Israel—specifically its Jewish regime and majority.
Advertisement
Advertisement