Iran unveils a memorial honoring Jewish heroes

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  • Iran unveils a memorial honoring Jewish heroes
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/12/18/iran-unveils-a-memorial-honoring-jewish-heroes

    Earlier this week, authorities in Tehran unveiled a monument to slain Iranian Jewish soldiers who died during the country’s long and bitter war with Iraq between 1980 and 1988. Death tolls for the hideous conflict differ, but casualty counts usually reach more than 1 million for both countries.

    A public ceremony marked the memorial’s opening on Monday, with speeches that took place at a dais flanked by the Iranian flag and a menorah. Banners showed the images of fallen soldiers, hailed as “martyrs” in Farsi and Hebrew inscriptions.

    The commemoration may surprise those who think of the Islamic Republic’s routine, angry rhetoric directed toward Israel, a “Zionist regime” the mullahs in Tehran refuse to recognize. But after Israel, Iran has the Middle East’s second-largest community of Jews — with its current population estimated between 20,000 and 30,000.