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Jewish exodus from the Muslim world |
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Exodus of Iranian Jews[1] refers to the emigration of Persian Jews from Iran in the 1950s and the later migration wave from the country during and after the Iranian Revolution of 1979, during which the community of 80,000 dropped to less than 20,000.[1] The migration of Persian Jews after the Iranian Revolution is mostly attributed to fear of religious persecution,[1] economic hardships and insecurity after the deposition of the Imperial government.
The Iranian constitution respects the rights of non-Muslim minorities, however the strong anti-Zionist policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran created an uncomfortable dilemma for some Iranian Jews.
Many of the formerly 80,000-strong Iranian Jewish community had left Iran by 1978.[2] Subsequently, more than 80% of the remaining Iranian Jews fled or migrated from the country between 1979 and 2006.[1] A small Jewish community of almost 10,000 still resides in Iran as a protected minority.[3]