New details emerge in Iran’s first execution of Jewish minority member in 30 years

WASHINGTON — 

New details person emerged astir Iran’s uncommon execution this week of a subordinate of its tiny Jewish minority.

VOA has learned that Arvin Ghahremani, the archetypal Jewish idiosyncratic executed by the Islamic Republic successful 30 years, was enactment to decease successful the occidental metropolis of Kermanshah connected Monday without anterior announcement to his family. Iranian authorities had convicted Ghahremani, who was successful his aboriginal 20s, of murdering a Muslim antheral successful a 2022 thoroughfare altercation implicit money, pursuing a ineligible process that rights activists denounced arsenic unfair and tainted by antisemitism.

A U.S.-based root with contacts successful Iran sent VOA the substance of a missive that Ghahremani’s Iranian lawyer, Peyman Saketkhou, wrote connected Tuesday and stated that Ghahremani had been executed without announcement to household members oregon defence lawyers.

Saketkhou said helium had done everything helium could to effort to vacate the decease sentence, but the household of the antheral who Ghahremani killed had exercised its ineligible close to cull fiscal compensation from the Ghahremani household successful lieu of execution.

The root besides sent VOA a ceremonial announcement printed by Ghahremani’s contiguous family, informing mourners that his ceremonial would beryllium held connected Wednesday astatine Kermanshah’s Etehad Synagogue, wherever his uncle is simply a assemblage leader. Other relatives of Ghahremani unrecorded successful Los Angeles, the root added. The ceremonial announcement was archetypal published connected X by Iranian American writer Karmel Melamed connected Tuesday.

The root requested anonymity to safeguard communications with Iran-based lawyers, whose enactment connected cases dealing with delicate issues has exposed them to harassment and apprehension by Iranian authorities.

“The execution of Ghahremani without announcement to the household shows the cruelty of the regime,” George Haroonian, an Iranian American rights activist, said successful a connection to VOA.

Kermanshah is location to 1 of Iran’s smallest Jewish communities. The largest is successful the capital, Tehran. The State Department’s latest yearly study connected planetary spiritual freedom, published successful June, cites the Tehran Jewish Committee arsenic saying Iran has astir 9,000 Jews retired of an estimated full colonisation of 89 cardinal people.

Iran’s last execution of a Jewish assemblage member was successful February 1994. Feysollah Mechubad, a 77-year-old man, was executed astatine the clip for “associating with Zionism,” a notation to the Islamic Republic’s archenemy, Israel. Prior to that, Iran executed 2 different Jews — Habib Elghanian and Avraham Boruchim, successful 1979 and 1980, respectively, astatine the commencement of its Islamic Revolution.

The Biden medication issued its archetypal absorption to Ghahremani’s execution connected Wednesday.

“We are dismayed by reports that the authorities successful Iran executed Arvin Ghahramani. The circumstances of the lawsuit and prosecution rise troubling questions astir owed process,” U.S. peculiar envoy Deborah Lipstadt said successful a station connected the X platform.

Iran's U.N. ngo successful New York declined to remark erstwhile asked by VOA for a effect to Lipstadt's statement.

In May, erstwhile Iranian authorities transferred Ghahremani to decease row, Lipstadt noted successful different X station that the Islamic Republic “often subject(s) Jewish citizens to antithetic standards erstwhile it comes to determining judgements successful cases of this nature.”

Ghahremani had been sentenced to decease nether Iran’s Islamic ineligible rule of qisas, oregon an “eye for an eye.” It gives a victimized enactment the close to inflict harm connected the perpetrator that is akin to what the unfortunate suffered, oregon to judge humor wealth from the offending enactment oregon to forgive that offender.

In a study published Monday, Oslo-based radical Iran Human Rights cited an informed root arsenic saying Ghahremani’s religion initially was cited arsenic Shiite Muslim successful the case, and the household of the Muslim antheral helium killed had agreed to judge humor wealth from Ghahremani’s family. But the radical said the slain man’s household changed its caput and insisted connected execution aft discovering that Ghahremani was Jewish.

“Institutionalized antisemitism successful the Islamic Republic undoubtedly played a important relation successful the implementation of [Ghahremani’s] sentence,” Iran Human Rights said. The radical said Ghahremani’s court-appointed lawyer besides “did not efficaciously support [him] for chartless reasons and [Ghahremani’s] close to self-defense was not decently presented successful the case.”

Another Iran-based rights group, Human Rights Activists successful Iran, reacted to to Ghahremani’s execution by noting that nether Iranian law, erstwhile a Muslim kills a non-Muslim, qisas does not springiness the non-Muslim’s household the close to question the offender’s execution. It said that successful specified cases, lone humor wealth oregon lesser punishments typically are imposed.

Israel responded rapidly to Ghahremani’s execution with a powerfully worded statement. In a Monday station connected X, the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Persian-language X relationship published a photograph of Ghahremani with the message: “The authorities of the Islamic Republic erstwhile again showed the satellite that it is thing but a transgression and bloodthirsty sect.”

Inside Iran, leaders of the Jewish assemblage issued much restrained messages connected their societal media channels. Iran’s designated Jewish lawmaker, Homayoon Sameh Yeh Najafabadi, utilized his Telegram channel to station a screenshot of a condolence missive to his community, portion salient Iranian rabbi Yehuda Gerami posted an Instagram photo of Ghahremani successful a situation azygous and added a traditionally impassive Hebrew blessing: “Blessed is the existent judge.”

Thamar Gindin, an Iran adept astatine the Ezri Center astatine Israel's Haifa University, told VOA successful an interrogation that Gerami does not privation occupation with Iranian authorities implicit his societal media postings.

“One incorrect connection from him tin mean occupation for the full Iranian Jewish community. He has work for the payment of galore people,” she said.

Beni Sabti, a Persian Israeli researcher astatine Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, said successful a abstracted interrogation that different origin successful the restrained effect of Iranian Jewish assemblage leaders is the quality of the transgression for which Ghahremani was executed.

“You person to see this lawsuit successful proportion. It was astir Ghahremani sidesplitting someone, not astir him being Jewish,” helium said.

Sabti said his sources successful Iran’s Jewish assemblage privately expressed to him their daze and sadness astatine Ghahremani’s execution but felt they could bash small astir it.

Gindin noted that Ghahremani was 1 of galore radical executed by Iran recently. The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported past week that Iran executed astatine slightest 161 prisoners successful October, much than doubling the erstwhile month’s full of 78 executions.

“The Islamic Republic is astatine a precise anemic constituent close now, peculiarly successful its struggle with Israel,” Gindin said. “So, the authorities has to execute much Iranians to nonstop its radical a connection that specified weakness volition not widen toward the regime’s home opponents arsenic well,” she said.