Iran prepares to execute Jewish man in case that sends dread through tiny Jewish community
Iranian authorities have sentenced a Jewish man to die — and they plan to carry out the execution as soon as Monday, sources told The Post.
The case has sent a shockwave through the tiny Jewish community in the Islamic Republic, and Iranian Jewish expats and others in the Jewish community in New York and Israel are sounding the alarm that it is a clear miscarriage of justice.
Arvin Ghahremani, 20, was working out at the gym in the Iranian city of Kermanshah, about 500 miles outside of Tehran, in November 2022 when he was ambushed by seven men, one of whom was a 40-year-old man who owed him money, said Rabbi Danny Yiftach, who translated Iranian court documents for The Post.
The purported victim, identified as Amir Shokri by Iran Human Rights, pulled a knife and stabbed Ghahremani, the Rabbi claims.
The Jewish man fought back and disarmed Shokri then fatally stabbed him.
Ghahremani was convicted of being an “accomplice to the intentional murder of a Muslim” and for “intentionally inflicting nonfatal injuries.”
He was sentenced to death, a judgment that is not subject to appeal, according to the documents.
An Iranian law would allow Ghahremani to escape execution if Shokri’s family agrees to receive financial compensation, but so far the family has refused, Yiftach said.
Jews are a tiny minority in the Islamic Republic, numbering 8,000 out of 88.5 million Iranians.
They are anxious as time ticks away on Ghahremani’s life.
“This morning I spent an hour responding to all the WhatsApp messages I’m receiving about this issue,” Yitach said. “This has gotten everybody very nervous in Iran.”
Dr. Homayoun Sameyah, the Jewish representative in Iran’s Parliament, has reportedly asked multiple Muslim lawmakers to mediate with Shokri’s family, even offering to build a mosque in his name.
The efforts were unsuccessful.
Yiftach said he believes that this case gives the Iranian regime the chance to show “their strength” by overturning an injustice.“I’m confident that if this case would have been in Tehran it wouldn’t have turned out this way because I do believe in the goodwill of the central government,” Yiftach said.
“Ever since the revolution Iran has said they’re not against the Jewish people — they’re just anti-Zionist. Now is their chance to prove that.”
The rabbi added, “The Talmud tells us even when there is a sword at your neck, don’t give up hope.”
The Iranian mission to the UN did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.