Iran's Jews feeling fear and heartbreak as US-Israeli strikes rain down

Iran's Jews feeling fear and heartbreak as US-Israeli strikes rain down Submitted by MEE correspondent on Mon, 03/09/2026 - 14:27 'I cannot see the country where I was born and raised as my enemy,' one Jewish Iranian businesswoman tells MEE Iranian Jews hold a pro-Palestinian gathering in Tehran on 30 October 2023 (Atta Kenare/AFP) Off Yosef, an Iranian Jew who studied history at university, is talking to Middle East Eye about the distinction between Judaism and Zionism. Part of a small community that now numbers less than 10,000 in a country of 90 million, Yosef – like other Iranian Jews – is trying to stay safe from air and missile strikes that often originate in Israel , a country he is supposed to feel some affinity with. “It is Zionism that has damaged Israel’s reputation around the world,” he says.