EASTORA REPORT | Iran’s Foreign Ministry is drawing a sharp line between Judaism and Israel, arguing that hostility toward Jews is a European historical phenomenon — not part of Iranian culture — even as Tehran remains at war with the Israeli state.
“Anti-Semitism is a European phenomenon and has nothing to do with Iranian religion or civilization,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at his weekly press briefing in Tehran.
Baghaei pointed to Iran’s Jewish community, saying roughly 100 synagogues exist across the country and citing the tombs of Jewish prophets and prominent figures as evidence of a long religious presence inside Iran.
His argument was deliberately framed around a distinction Tehran has increasingly emphasized during the war: opposition to Israel, he said, should not be treated as hostility toward Jews.
Despite what he called an “all-out war” with a government that “falsely claims to represent Jews,” Baghaei asked how many attacks had taken place against Jewish holy sites inside Iran. He said that even rare incidents had been dealt with immediately.
Then he turned the accusation back on Europe.
Baghaei asked what kind of political and social environment had been created there if Jewish cemeteries could be attacked and synagogues had to be protected behind barriers, barbed wire or discreet signage.
The comments came as Iran rejected accusations from Western governments linking Tehran to anti-Semitic activity and threats against Jewish targets abroad.
Those accusations remain a major point of dispute. European governments and security bodies have investigated alleged Iran-linked plots and attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets, while Tehran has repeatedly rejected such claims as politically motivated.
Baghaei’s broader message was therefore not simply a defense of Iran’s record. It was an attempt to redefine the argument itself: Tehran says its conflict is with Israel and Zionism, not Judaism — and that Europe, given its own history and continuing anti-Semitic violence, is in no position to lecture Iran on the subject.