The sole Jewish member of the Iranian parliament will accompany President Hassan Rouhani when he travels to New York next week for the UN general assembly.

Siamak Moreh Sedgh, who represents Iran's Jewish community in the majlis, the country's parliament, will try to help Rouhani revamp the Islamic republic's image on the world stage after eight acrimonious years under previous president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who issued controversial statements about the Holocaust.

The move comes after Rouhani pledged to work to improve civil rights for Iranian minorities and provide a bigger role for them in government when he was sworn in to office in June.

Sedgh and Ahmad-Reza Dastgheyb, a Muslim, are the only MPs travelling with Rouhani to the UN, local agencies reported. After the constitutional revolution, which took place between 1905 to 1907, Iranian Jews were given a reserved seat in the parliament which they have retained after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

After Ahmadinejad's departure from power, Rouhani appears to have started an initiative to tell the world that Iran, whose official religion is Islam, is not against Jews. Rouhani's Twitter account, believed to be run through his office, surprised many recently by posting a Rosh Hashanah blessing for the Jewish new year. Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, followed in Rouhani's footsteps by tweeting a similar blessing.

"Our Jewish countrymen are a recognised minority in Iran and have an active representative in the parliament," Zarif told the semi-official Tasnim news agency after his tweet in early September, according to Tehran Times.

"We were never against Jews. We oppose Zionists who are a small group," he said. "We do not allow the Zionists to represent Iran as an anti-Semitic country in their propaganda so they can cover up their crimes against Palestinian and Lebanese people."

Iran is believed to have the largest Jewish population in the Middle East after Israel. The country's Jewish population declined after the Islamic revolution as many of its members emigrated to Israel or other countries around the world.

Only officially-recognised religious minorities are represented in the Iranian parliament. Like Jews, Zoroastrians also have a reserved seat but Christians have three, mainly because of their bigger population. The Baha'i faith, which was founded in Iran, is banned and its members are the most persecuted religious minorities in the country, with no access to higher education.

Sedgh succeeded a famous Jewish Iranian MP, Mauric Motamed, in 2008 and has since been able to retain his seat. Sedgh's visa for the US has not yet been issued.

Zarif's tweet attracted a great deal of attention. He also responded to a tweet by Christine Pelosi, the daughter of the US politician Nancy Pelosi, who had told the Iranian minister that the Jewish new year "would have been sweeter" if Iran ended its Holocaust denial.

Zarif posted to her: "Iran never denied it. The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone. Happy New Year." The Iranian foreign minister was referring to Ahmadinejad.

Original Posted By sumber lokal
Kehadiran Presiden Iran Hassan Rouhani dalam Sidang Majelis Umum PBB pekan depan akan didampingi anggota Parlemen Iran yang beragama Yahudi. Siamak Moreh Sedgh, satu-satunya anggota parlemen yang mewakili masyarakat Yahudi di Iran, diharapkan bakal mengubah citra Republik Islam Iran yang selama delapan tahun diukir oleh pendahulu Rouhani. Presiden Ahmadinejad yang digantikan Rouhani dikenal dengan pernyataannya yang kontroversial menampik Holocaust. Selain Sedgh, Rouhani juga akan didampingi Ahmad-Reza Dastgheyb, seorang Muslim.

Setelah revolusi konstitusional Iran yang berlangsung antara 1905-1907, masyarakat Yahudi Iran mendapat satu kursi di parlemen, hal yang tetap dipertahankan setelah Revolusi Islam Iran 1979.

Pasca era Ahmadinejad, Iran bersama Rouhani berusaha memberikan pesan kepada dunia bahwa Iran, yang mengakui Islam sebagai agama resmi mereka, tidak menentang Yahudi. Beberapa waktu lalu melalui akun twitternya (yang diyakini dikelola oleh kantor kepresidenan) mengejutkan banyak orang dengan ucapan selamat tahun baru (Rosh Hashanah) kepada Umat Yahudi—tweet yang segera diikuti oleh Menlu Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif.

"Kami mengakui saudara sebangsa kami, warga Yahudi Iran, dan mereka memiliki perwakilan di parlemen,” demikian Zarif menjelaskan tweetnya awal September lalu.

"Kami tak pernah memusuhi Yahudi. Kami melawan Zionisme yang sebenarnya hanya sekelompok kecil saja,” lanjutnya. "Kami tak akan membiarkan kaum Zionis menggambarkan Iran sebagai negara anti-Semit dalam propaganda mereka, sehungga mereka bebas menutup-nutupi kejahatan mereka terhadap warga Palestina dan Lebanon.”

Iran diyakini menjadi negara Timur Tengah yang memiliki jumlah penduduk Yahudi terbesar setelah Israel. Hanya agama minoritas yang diakui negara saja yang memiliki perwakilan di Iran. Sebagaimana Yahudi, warga Zoroaster mendapatkan satu kursi sedangkan warga Kristen memiliki 3 wakil karena jumlah populasi mereka memang lebih besar.

Tweet Menlu Zarif sendiri telah memancing banyak perhatian, di antaranya dari putri politisi AS Nancy Pelosi, Christine Pelosi, yang memposting di akun twitternya bahwa tahun baru Yahudi “akan lebih manis” andai saja Iran bersedia mengakhiri pengingkarannya akan Holocaust.
Yang dijawaban oleh Zarif: "Iran tak pernah mengingkarinya. Orang yang dianggap mengingkarinya itu kini sudah pergi. Selamat Tahun Baru.” Maksud Menlu Iran itu, tentu saja, adalah Presiden Ahmadinejad. (pn/theguardian.com)

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