Timeline of Jewish Presence
View chronological details of Jewish life and presence in Iran.
- 727 BCE
Jews are forced into exile from Judea into Babylonian and Persian lands.
- 642 BCE
The Battle of Nehavend leaves Persia in the hands of Arab-Muslims, establishing Islam as the new state religion and depriving Jews of political or social equality.
- 634 – 1255
Islamic rule forces Jews to pay a poll tax and wear a yellow patch signifying their Jewish religion, distinguishing them as a minority group in a majority Muslim society.
- 1258 – 1336
Jewish settlements destroyed throughout Persian lands as Mongols take control.
- 1501
Safavid Dynasty takes over, spreads idea that non-Muslims are unclean. Jews are forced to proclaim themselves “Jadid-al-Islam” (New Muslims).
- 1661
Iranian authorities issue an edict giving Jews freedom of religion and the freedom to practice their religion as they wish.
- 1898
First “Alliance Israelite” school established in Tehran. Sixty years later, there were thirty-four Alliance schools and thirty-eight other Jewish schooling options for children.
- 1908
Iranian state grants Constitutional rights to the country’s three main religious minorities: Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. Jews are given the power to elect one member to the Iranian parliament.
- 1948
With the end of WWII and the establishment of Israel as a state, 80% of the Iranian Jewish population immigrates to Israel along with other countries.
- 1950
Mohammad Reza Shah grants Israel de facto recognition as a state.
- 1979
Ayatollah Khomeini takes control over Iran. Despite several violent attacks to Israel and Zionism, he also maintains freedom of religion for Iranian Jews, as they are also “people of the book”.
- 2012
Although it is widely believed that 25,000 Jews remain in Iran, the Iranian government releases a census stating there are 8,756 Jews in Iran.
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