The beginning of Jewish history in Iran date back to late biblical times. The biblical books of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Esther contain references to the Jews of Persia.
Persian Jews have lived in the territories of today’s Iran for over 2,700 years, since the first Jewish diaspora when Shalmaneser V conquered the (Northern) Kingdom of Israel (722 BCE) and sent the Israelites into captivity at Khorasan. In 586 BCE, the Babylonians expelled large populations of Jews from Judea to the Babylonian captivity.
Jews who migrated to ancient Persia mostly lived in their own communities. The Persian Jewish communities include the ancient communities not only of Iran, but of parts of [present day] what is now Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, northwestern India, Kirgizstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. During the peak of the Persian Empire, Jews are thought to have comprised as much as 20 percent of the population.
Parthian period [247 BCE – 224 CE]
The Parthian Empire was an enduring empire that was based on a loosely configured system of vassal kings. The Parthians were protective of the [Jewish] minority. An old Jewish saying goes: “When you see a Parthian charger tied [stallion] up to a tomb–stone in the Land of Israel, the hour of the Messiah will be near.”
In the continuous struggles between the Parthians and the Romans [200 BCE – 200 CE], the Jews had every reason to side against the Romans, ultimately the destroyers of the Jerusalem Temple, and to side with the Parthians, their protectors. Possibly it was recognition of their loyalty (rendered by the Jews of Babylonia) that induced the Parthian kings to elevate the [ex–Judean] leaders of the Exile, who till then had been little more than mere collectors of revenue, to the dignity of almost–princes, called Resh Galuta [the Head of the Exiles]. When the numerous Jewish subjects were provided with a central authority, this assured a relatively undisturbed development of their own internal affairs.
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Nineteenth Century
In the nineteenth century there were many instances of forced conversions and massacres, usually inspired by the Shi’a wing of Islam. A representative of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, a Jewish humanitarian and educational organization, wrote from Tehran in 1894: “…every time that a priest wishes to emerge from obscurity and win a reputation for piety, he preaches was against the Jews.”… Driven by persecutions, thousands of Persian Jews emigrated to Palestine in the late 19th – early 20th century.
Pahlavi dynasty (1925 CE – 1979 CE)
The Pahlavi dynasty implemented modernizing reforms, which greatly improved the life of Jews.The influence of the Shi’a clergy was weakened, and the restrictions on Jews and other religious minorities were eliminated. Reza Shah prohibited mass conversion of Jews and eliminated the Shi’ite concept of uncleanness of non–Muslims. Modern Hebrew was incorporated into the curriculum of Jewish schools and Jewish newspaper were published. Jews were also allowed to hold government jobs. However, Jewish schools were closed in 1920s. In addition, Reza Shah sympathized with Nazy Germany, making the Jewish community fearful of possible persecutions, and the public sentiment in Iran at the time was anti–Jewish.
Anti–Jewish sentiment ratcheted–up after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and continued until 1953 due to weakening of the central government and strengthening of the Iranian clergy in the course of the ensuing political struggles between the shah and prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh.
The reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi after the deposition of Mossadegh in 1953, was the most prosperous era for the Jews of Iran. In 1970s, only 10 percent of Iranian Jews were classified as impoverished; 80 percent were middle class and 10 percent wealthy. In 1979 two of the 18 members of the Iranian Academy of Sciences were from the small Iranian Jewish community.
Prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there were 80,000 Jews in Iran, concentrated in Tehran (60,000), Shiraz (8,000), Kermanshah (4,000), Ishafan (3,000), the cities of Khuzistan, as well as Kashan, Tabriz, and Hamedan…
Estimates of the Jewish population in Iran vary. In mid– and late 1980s, it was estimated at 20,000–30,000, rising to around 35,000 in mid– 1990s, and estimated at less than 30,000 nowadays, possibly much less.
The Islamic government appoints the officials who run Jewish schools, most of these being Muslims and the government requires that those schools must open on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath. Criticism of this policy was the downfall of the last remaining newspaper of the Iranian Jewish community which was closed in 1991 after it criticized government on this score.