Engineer Maurice Mo’tamed, born in 1323 in the city of Hamadan. He was born into a Jewish family and in 1379, he was selected as the representative of the Iranian Kalimian community in the sixth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, under the presidency of Mehdi Karroubi. He was also chosen as a member of the Energy Committee in this assembly. In 1383, Mr. Mo’tamed was re-elected for the second time as the representative of the Kalimian community in the seventh term of the assembly.

According to statistics, Maurice Motamed, along with other representatives of religious minorities in the country’s parliament, was able to achieve the most parliamentary successes in relation to religious minorities during their tenure, especially in the sixth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. They took an important step in preserving and reviving the rights of minorities by passing the law of equality of blood money for religious minorities with the main body.

In the 31st issue of our monthly magazine “Peace Line” and considering the topic of our special dossier, we have conducted an interview with this former representative of the parliament.

Mr. Mo’tamed; as the first question, please tell us what population of the country’s citizens does the Iranian Jewish community encompass?

The Jewish community before the revolution had a population of approximately 100,000 to 110,000. After the revolution, about 80% of this population gradually migrated out of the country. Currently, it is estimated that the remaining Jewish population within the country is between 18,000 to 20,000 people.

Is this society equally entitled to fundamental freedoms such as freedom of education and upbringing, or practicing religious rituals, as other Iranian citizens?

Well, as you know, Judaism is perhaps the only religion that does not have any kind of propaganda and we are not witnessing the acceptance of other people into our community in the same way that other religions do. Fortunately, in terms of practicing religious and legal rituals, not only in relation to the Jewish community, but also in relation to other religious minorities such as Christians, Zoroastrians and Assyrians, which are known as Abrahamic religions, there has been no problem in Iran since the revolution and they have freely gone to their own gatherings, whether it be a church or a temple, and performed their own ceremonies. Fortunately, we have also not had any problems in this regard and have established our own religious and legal ceremonies with complete freedom and celebrated our own holidays in the best way possible.

Regarding education and training, it is the same. The schools that were under our control before the revolution and were our property, have remained in our hands after the revolution and their management has been handed over to the Kalamian Association of Tehran or the Associations of the provinces. Of course, in some cases, there were issues and problems at the beginning of the revolution, but fortunately, with the agreements made with education and training and other institutions, the majority of these problems were resolved. In terms of education and school management, we do not have any problems.

Do you confirm that there is a ban on studying at government universities and employment in government positions for Iranian Jews?

Yes, of course we cannot say this about studying in universities; because now not only Jews, but also other religious minorities participate freely in the entrance exam and every year we witness a large number of religious minorities entering universities across the country; however, in regards to studying in some specialized fields, there have been problems in obtaining a higher specialization that prevent religious minorities from participating in these fields. I myself remember that in the sixth and seventh parliament, we were very concerned about this issue and wrote numerous letters to the President’s office, the Minister of Science, etc. to resolve the problem.

Regarding the ban on employment in government positions, unfortunately this restriction has existed. For example, in education, this problem exists; after the revolution, due to certain laws that were enacted, the employment of religious minorities in education became very limited and even reached zero. It was only in the sixth parliament that we were able to obtain a permit from the Ministry of Education to employ 200 volunteers from religious minorities as teachers and educators in elementary and high schools. Perhaps one of the professions that has always been of interest and preference for religious minorities in our country is teaching and being a teacher…

How many schools and synagogues does the Iranian Jewish community have?

See the number of synagogues we have now in Tehran, I think it’s about eighteen synagogues (now I may have said one or two more or less). In the cities, of course, we have a lot of synagogues in Shiraz and in Isfahan as well; but due to the decrease in the Jewish population, especially in cities like Hamedan, Kermanshah, Sanandaj, Urmia, Kerman, Yazd or Kamyaran, some of the synagogues have been closed. For example, suppose that before, each had between five to seven active synagogues, but now they have been limited to only one synagogue, because the population is not enough to fill all the synagogues for their religious ceremonies; therefore, the city associations were forced to close some of these synagogues or schools that were previously active.

How many schools are currently there?

As I mentioned before, the schools that existed in the hands of the Kalamian Association are still there. I think there are about five schools in Tehran now, similar to Atfagh and Abrishami, and I mentioned that due to the shortage of students and the fact that a wide range of the Kalamian community has migrated, the Kalamian Association has been forced to close some of these schools due to lack of students.

Do you confirm that the wave of migration of Iranian Jews that started after the revolution is still ongoing?

See, this wave of migration until about 13-14 years ago, was a continuous process, but since then, this wave has decreased significantly and now I can confidently say that the Jewish population in Iran has remained stable for some time because the births that occur replace the number of people who migrate out of the country; meaning that in recent years, according to existing statistics, perhaps only about 100 people would migrate annually, which would be filled by the births of these migrants (perhaps the birth rate is even higher). In fact, the population of the Jewish community from 10-15 years ago until now, despite the migrations that have taken place, has remained stable and the wave of migration, which previously existed with such enthusiasm and interest, is no longer present, and a state of stability has been reached.

What do you know about the reasons for this decrease in migration?

There are people who may not have the opportunity to live abroad; of course, an interest in water and soil is also one of the most important areas, and then the majority of the Jewish community living in Iran may be satisfied with their current situation and their businesses have not faced any particular problems. The propaganda that may have existed in the early years of the revolution has naturally decreased and now has reached a minimum. However, as the age of the Islamic Republic government increases, the burden of these pressures or perhaps the initial prejudices that existed at the beginning of the revolution have decreased…

Do we currently have any Iranian Jews who are imprisoned in Iran on charges of religious, political, or ideological beliefs?

Due to my residency abroad and the challenges I faced, I have not been informed about these matters for about 2 years. However, as far as I know and based on my meeting with our representative in New York last month, who had traveled to the United States with the esteemed President, fortunately there did not seem to be any issue; as I mentioned before, the Jewish community does not engage in religious propaganda and generally there is no acceptance in this religion or there are very difficult conditions. We cannot say that there are any specific prisoners in prisons from a religious perspective.

Have the threats made by extremist forces in recent years to destroy Jewish holy sites, particularly the “Tomb of Esther,” been carried out?

In relation to the graves of Esther and Mordecai, unfortunately in the past 5-6 years, there has been some negative advertising and threats, possibly due to lack of awareness about the history and issue of Esther and Mordecai in Hamadan. I myself was in Tehran at that time, but I witnessed that the governorship and Ministry of Intelligence quickly took action and were able to prevent any destruction or trouble for the sacred sites of the Jewish community. Fortunately, after the revolution, we have not seen any destruction of sacred sites; although in some cities, we have seen that cemeteries belonging to the Jewish community have been turned into parks due to being located within urban areas. However, to the best of their ability, the authorities and government cooperated with the Jewish community and respected the sanctity and respect of these areas.

During your conversations, you generally mentioned one or two examples of actions that the Islamic Consultative Assembly has taken to address discrimination and inequalities faced by religious minorities. If there are any other cases, especially regarding criminal laws, please provide a brief explanation about them.

See, after the revolution, due to the fact that many of the religious laws had replaced everyday laws and in regards to certain issues such as blood money or retribution, were dealt with from a religious perspective, this created discrimination against religious minorities; especially in the case of blood money which caused great concern for all religious minorities. One of the issues that I was actively involved in addressing during the sixth parliament was related to blood money and fortunately, after much effort in parliament, the blood money for religious minorities was made equal to the main body and all the concerns that religious minorities had until then were resolved and addressed.

In the field of retribution law, the desired result of minority religious communities, which was to have equal retribution as the issue of blood money, has not yet been achieved. This means that the same rights that are considered for the main body of society should also be considered for religious minorities; however, no progress has been made yet. Inshallah, if this also comes to fruition, a significant part of the concerns of minorities regarding retribution law will be resolved.

On the other hand, apart from the issue of diyya (blood money), especially in the sixth parliament, we witnessed the passing of other laws for religious minorities. For the first time in the history of the Iranian parliament, we saw in this parliament that a special budget line was allocated for religious minorities in the annual national budget, which was a very good achievement. Because the usual annual budget bill was not able to meet all the needs and demands of religious minorities, but this small budget – although insignificant – was allocated in the name of religious minorities in the fields of sports, culture, social issues, and even artistic matters. We also saw assistance from other government agencies, and many problems were solved. Fortunately, as time went by, we witnessed the resolution of many issues in the communities of religious minorities.

Did the Jewish community in Iran experience more pressure during the time of Mr. Ahmadinejad?

In relation to the Jewish community, the issue of the Holocaust is considered a red line and raising this issue by Mr. Ahmadinejad and denying this tragedy, which is said to be the greatest tragedy in human history, has caused a lot of dissatisfaction and discontent among the Jewish community in Iran and has created heartache among this community. They did not expect such an issue to be raised by the President of Iran and I myself have expressed my concern several times in interviews I have had inside or outside the country regarding the concerns of the Jewish community about this issue.

Given Mr. Rouhani’s performance and views, such as congratulating the Hebrew New Year, acknowledging the Holocaust and sympathizing with its survivors, as well as accompanying Mr. Siamak Moreh Sedgh, representative of the Kalimi community, on his trip to New York, are you optimistic that a better policy towards the Jewish community in Iran has been adopted by the government?

Basically, I had a previous knowledge and familiarity with Mr. Rouhani and his chosen cabinet, including Mr. Zarif as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Zanganeh as the Minister of Oil, and Mr. Najafi as his deputy, as well as many other members of the cabinet whom I know closely and am aware of their behavior and performance. I am very hopeful that during the term of this cabinet and with Mr. Rouhani as the President, we will witness much greater progress in solving the problems and issues of religious minority communities. Of course, the fact that Mr. Rouhani brought a representative of the Jewish community to New York, whom I also had the opportunity to meet and attend meetings with, was a clear example of his open-mindedness, not only towards the Jewish community, but towards all religious minority communities. I was present during his speech and saw that he expressed very clear views towards all religious and ethnic minority communities within Iran, and I am hopeful that

We thank you for the opportunity you have provided us to reach a peace agreement…