Several of Iran’s Jews detained over protests, community says it’s a mistake — report

Several members of Iran’s Jewish community have been arrested in recent days, purportedly on suspicion that they were involved in the recent mass anti-regime protests, Hebrew outlets reported on Tuesday.

The community has reportedly denied any connection to the demonstrations, saying the arrest of the Jews was a mistake. Iranian Jewish leaders are involved in efforts to have the detainees released, sources close to the community said, according to Kan and Israel Hayom.

The community is trying to show total loyalty to the regime, the sources added.

Contact between Iran’s Jewish community, believed to number some 8,000-10,000, and the outside world is generally sparse, easily leading to misunderstanding, experts say. Communication lines are often tapped, and direct contact with Israel is strictly prohibited by the Iranian regime, which frequently vows to destroy the Jewish state, so much of what is known is filtered through “official” Iranian channels. That makes it difficult to gauge the community’s real sentiments.

Jews in Iran, the largest community of Jews in the Middle East outside of Israel, say they enjoy a large degree of religious freedom and security, with religious ceremonies and rituals protected by the state.

At the same time, they are subject to several legal limitations, including being barred from holding significant government positions. There is a single seat in Iran’s parliament, the Majlis, reserved for a Jewish representative.

According to the reports, the Jewish community has distanced itself from the protests, and no Jews are known to be among those injured or killed amid the unrest.

Iran’s Jews have avoided protest sites, and the community has maintained its routine as much as possible, including normal prayers and classes in synagogues and schools, the sources said.

Protests broke out in Iran in December, in response to the country’s dire economic crisis, then escalated into calls for the fall of the regime; earlier this month, the demonstrations were brutally repressed, with Iranian security forces killing thousands of people and, activists say, potentially far more. US President Donald Trump has threatened to respond militarily to the crackdown, and has surged its forces in the region, leading to Iranian threats to retaliate against Israel and US targets.

The recent arrests came after all but one of some 35 Iranian Jews who were arrested during and after the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June 2025 had been released, according to a report by Kan earlier this month.

Amid the recent unrest in Iran, representatives of minority communities, including Jewish community representative Homayoun Sameh, issued a statement in support of the Iranian regime and against supposed interference by the US and “child-killing” Israel.

Earlier this month, another Jewish community leader, Rabbi Younes Hamami Lalehzar, attended a virtual conference marking six years since the US’s assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

Also participating in the conference were representatives from the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups.