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December 12, 2003/Kislev 17 5764, Vol. 56, No. 12
Missing Iranian Jews' families go public
MICHAEL J. JORDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - Babak Tehrani was 17 years old in June 1994 when he hugged his parents and two younger brothers, left his home in Tehran and, guided by a well-paid smuggler, tried to slip across rugged mountains into Pakistan.
He was joined by his friend Shaheen Nikkhoo, 20.
The two were caught by Iranian police at the border town of Zahedan and haven't been heard from since.
Tehrani and Nikkhoo are among 11 Iranian Jews, ranging in age from 15 to 57 at the time of their ill-fated flights, who were caught and arrested while trying to leave Iran in the 1990s.
All attempts to learn of their fate or win their freedom through personal pleas or backdoor diplomacy have been met with evasions or silence by Iranian authorities.
Now, for the first time, their families and the Jewish organizations backing them have decided to go public and enlist the help of the United Nations and media.
"The families have lost patience, and we've lost hope that those responsible elements in Iran will release these prisoners voluntarily," said Sam Kermanian, secretary-general of the Iranian Am-erican Jewish Federation. "We are therefore in need of international support."
According to the Iranian American Jewish Federa-tion's latest information, Kermanian said, the 11 men were spotted alive earlier this year in a Tehran prison.
Iran's representation in the United States, the Iranian Mission to the United Nations, did not return a call seeking comment.
Flight across Iran's south-eastern border with Pakistan is common and was even more so during the mid-1990s, when emigration rules were more stringent, Ker-manian said.
The restrictions on Jews in Iran were particularly tough during the mid-1990s. For example, entire families were forbidden to emigrate; at least one member had to remain behind.
Emigration restrictions have been eased somewhat since then.
That reportedly was the case with the Tehrani family. Most of the family was given permission to leave and, with two younger children to consider, the parents decided that Babak would remain in Iran as the token family member.
It was only when the family arrived in Vienna for the processing of their American visas that they learned that Babak had disappeared while fleeing on his own, Ker-manian said.
Some have suggested that Iran wants at least some Jews to remain in the country as virtual hostages to deter any potential attack from Israel. Others say they fear a wholesale Jewish exodus would damage Iran's image.
"This would be the first government in Persia in 2,500 years to make the country devoid of Jews, and that would not reflect well on the regime," Kermanian said.
In the first few years after the men disappeared, ad-vocates hoped Iran's new president, Mohammed Kha-tami, would prove to be as moderate as he portrayed himself. But the moderation - especially vis-a-vis the Jews - never materialized, they say.
The first publicized word of the 11 came in September 2000, when Malcolm Hoen-lein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Amer-ican Jewish Organizations, broached the subject with Mehdi Kharroubi, the speaker of Iran's Parliament. Kharroubi, who was visiting New York, reportedly said he would look into the issue.
But that contact came amid more intense, public lobbying efforts to win the release of 10 of the original "Iran 13" - Jews jailed in 1999 on charges of spying for Israel. Since then, little has been heard publicly about the missing 11.
That changed a month ago, when Nikkhou's mother held a highly publicized meeting in Tehran with Ambeyi Ligabo, the U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression.
Once Nikkhou's mother went forward and the Iranian media seized on it, advocates in the United States say they decided to take their activism public.
"The families made the decision that they feel they have nothing left to lose, and I agree," said Hoenlein, who, together with Kermanian, sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the subject.
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