President Hassan Rowhani, Iran’s newly elected president is bringing Iran’s
sole Jewish Member of Parliament to the United Nations General Assembly in New
York this week, in order to alter Iran’s distorted image globally due to fears
that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program to attack Israel, the Guardian
reported.
Rowhani’s main purpose in accompanying Siamak Moreh Sedgh is perceived as
changing the world’s perspective of Iran, moving away from the vehement image of
his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who repeatedly condemned Israel and the
Jews.
Rowhani is delivering his speech on Tuesday following President Barack
Obama’s welcoming statement which will be the first face-to-face encounter since
the 1970’s between leaders of the two countries.
Despite Sedgh’s Jewish heritage, he’s an enthusiastic anti-Zionist and critic
of Israel. In 2008 he participated in a rally outside the U.N. office in
Teheran, condemning “Israeli war crimes and the slaughter of the innocent people
in the Gaza Strip,” Israeli media reported.
In 2010 interview with Russia Today, Sedgh denied
that Iran was an anti-Semitic nation. “Jews are safe in Iran. That’s true.
Nobody needs guards. There has never been a single instance of anti-Semitism in
Iranian society. This phenomenon belongs to the European, Christian world,” he
said.
Sedgh’s travel to New York is likely to be seen in Israel as part of
President Rowhani’s “spin” campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously described Rowhani as a
“wolf in sheep’s clothing,” saying the Iranian leader is mounting a charm
offensive to keep his centrifuges spinning.
Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-Israeli Middle East analyst, wrote in Al-Monitor
that Rowhani is counting on the support of Iran’s Jewish MP to achieve his
international goal. But domestically, Iran’s Jewish MP will not be able to help
Rowhani, Javedanfar added.
Jews have lived in Iran for almost three thousand years. In 1948 the Jewish
population in the country reached a peak of about 150,000. The Jewish community,
still believed to be the largest in the Middle East after Israel, dropped
following the Khomeini revolution, as thousands of Jews fled to Israel, Europe,
Britain, Australia, the United States and Canada, International
Business Times reported.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...Jewish-MP-on-charm-offensive-to-New-York.html
sole Jewish Member of Parliament to the United Nations General Assembly in New
York this week, in order to alter Iran’s distorted image globally due to fears
that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program to attack Israel, the Guardian
reported.
Rowhani’s main purpose in accompanying Siamak Moreh Sedgh is perceived as
changing the world’s perspective of Iran, moving away from the vehement image of
his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who repeatedly condemned Israel and the
Jews.
Rowhani is delivering his speech on Tuesday following President Barack
Obama’s welcoming statement which will be the first face-to-face encounter since
the 1970’s between leaders of the two countries.
Despite Sedgh’s Jewish heritage, he’s an enthusiastic anti-Zionist and critic
of Israel. In 2008 he participated in a rally outside the U.N. office in
Teheran, condemning “Israeli war crimes and the slaughter of the innocent people
in the Gaza Strip,” Israeli media reported.
In 2010 interview with Russia Today, Sedgh denied
that Iran was an anti-Semitic nation. “Jews are safe in Iran. That’s true.
Nobody needs guards. There has never been a single instance of anti-Semitism in
Iranian society. This phenomenon belongs to the European, Christian world,” he
said.
Sedgh’s travel to New York is likely to be seen in Israel as part of
President Rowhani’s “spin” campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously described Rowhani as a
“wolf in sheep’s clothing,” saying the Iranian leader is mounting a charm
offensive to keep his centrifuges spinning.
Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-Israeli Middle East analyst, wrote in Al-Monitor
that Rowhani is counting on the support of Iran’s Jewish MP to achieve his
international goal. But domestically, Iran’s Jewish MP will not be able to help
Rowhani, Javedanfar added.
Jews have lived in Iran for almost three thousand years. In 1948 the Jewish
population in the country reached a peak of about 150,000. The Jewish community,
still believed to be the largest in the Middle East after Israel, dropped
following the Khomeini revolution, as thousands of Jews fled to Israel, Europe,
Britain, Australia, the United States and Canada, International
Business Times reported.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/New...Jewish-MP-on-charm-offensive-to-New-York.html
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