Exclusive Voice of America Report on the Coercion of Iranian Jews to Participate in Government 'Elections'

The U.S. State Department, in a statement exclusively provided to Voice of America, described reports that the Jewish minority in Iran was coerced into participating in the recent presidential elections as 'regrettable.' Reported coercive actions confirmed by Voice of America include the establishment of special polling stations for Jews to vote in the presidential elections and organizing an electoral campaign for Jews to meet with representatives of presidential candidates. Iranian Jews, like other religious minorities, have endured discrimination and persecution since 1979, when the Islamic Republic regime took power and opposed the Jewish state of Israel. The latest annual report by the State Department on international religious freedom, published last month, cites the Tehran Jewish Association stating that 9,000 Jews from Iran's 89 million population were forced to participate in the presidential elections. Massoud Pezeshkian, a former Iranian health minister and loyalist to Ali Khamenei, the 'autocratic' leader of the Islamic Republic, was declared the winner of this election with a participation rate below 50% and a boycott by most Iranian voters. The State Department stated in its statement to Voice of America that it is aware of the reported coercion of Jews to participate in voting. A spokesperson for the State Department said, 'The behavior described in these reports is regrettable. We never expected Iran's presidential elections to be free or fair, so these reports of coercion, while horrific, are not surprising.' The Iranian representation at the United Nations in New York responded to Voice of America's request sent via email on Friday for an explanation of why Tehran took unprecedented steps to involve Jews in the elections. This representation stated, 'Participation in elections is free and completely voluntary for all sectors in Iran, without any coercion, and also without any consequences for those who do not participate.' The statement from the Iranian representation at the UN continued, 'The participation of Iranian Jews in various elections demonstrates their loyalty to their country and the realization of their right to self-determination.' Rabbi Abraham Cooper from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a global Jewish human rights organization based in the United States, responded to the Iranian government's statement to Voice of America by saying that many Iranians cannot determine how they dress and what they say. Rabbi Cooper's reference points to the mandatory hijab imposed by the government on women and the suppression of freedom of expression in Iran. The unprecedented action by the Islamic Republic included the establishment of exclusive polling stations for Jews to vote in five Jewish centers in Tehran, where most of the country's Jews reside. The main organization defending the interests of Jews in the Islamic Republic, the Tehran Jewish Association, stated in a Telegram post on June 21 that this is the first time special polling stations have been allocated to Jews for the presidential elections. Previously, Iranian officials had only set up polling stations for Jews for parliamentary elections so that Jews could vote for the only representative of the Jewish minority in the Iranian parliament and their provincial representative. The five polling stations for Jews for the presidential elections listed by the Tehran Jewish Association were located in public schools, synagogues, and educational complexes for Jews, including the Moussa ibn Imran High School, the Abrishami Synagogue, the Ettefagh Synagogue Educational Complex, the Fakhre Danesh Girls' School, the Rouhi Shad Boys' School, and the Zargarian Synagogue Unity School. Homayoun Samahy Najafabadi, the only Jewish representative in Iran, shared photos of himself, prominent Iranian Rabbi Younes Hamami Lalehzar, and other voting Jews at the Moussa ibn Imran School during the second round of elections on his Telegram channel. These images show them casting their ballots while Muslim staff at the polling center looked on. Previously, Najafabadi had shared photos on Telegram showing himself and other Jews voting at one of the polling stations in Isfahan during the first round of elections. In another unprecedented action, Iranian officials organized a meeting on July 26, two days before the first round of elections, between representatives of presidential candidates and members of the Jewish community at the main synagogue in Tehran in Yusefabad. The Tehran Jewish Association and Najafabadi both urged Jews to attend this event in messages posted on their Telegram channels on July 2 and 3. They did not post any photos from the event. Iranian state media published other images of Jews participating in the presidential elections, showing Jews voting in a mosque in Isfahan on July 15 while smiling in front of cameras. Other Jews voting in Shiraz on the same day were filmed, and two men told a reporter that they were showing their loyalty to the Islamic Republic. Tamar Gindin, an Iran expert at the Azrieli Center at the University of Haifa in Israel, told Voice of America that pressuring Jews to vote in the Iranian presidential elections is part of the Islamic Republic's coercive behavior pattern. She cited as an example that hundreds of Iranian Jews held an unprecedented series of anti-Israel protests in five cities in Iran on October 30, 2023, while several Iranian state news agencies filmed and photographed them. Gindin said, 'Iranian Jews generally fear being used as good and loyal citizens for propaganda.' She noted that one fear they have is that if they do not participate in the elections, they will be seen as opponents. Not voting is a security statement, akin to saying this regime has stolen the country from the Iranian people, and I will not cooperate with it. The Jewish community does not want to make such statements. 'They may agree with it, but they will never express it publicly.' Gindin said that the Islamic Republic rewards Jews by giving them a sense of importance through promotional roles. According to George Harounian, an Iranian-American Jewish activist, playing these roles for the 'Iranian presidential elections' creates new risks for the Jewish minority. Harounian told Voice of America that establishing polling stations for Jews gives Iranian officials access to data showing how many Jews voted and which presidential candidates they voted for. Harounian said, 'This is another form of discrimination. Iranian Jews are hostages who can be attacked and arrested at any moment and for any excuse, and this is the regime's behavior to intimidate and subdue its opponents.'