Tomb of biblical Esther, Mordecai reportedly set ablaze in northwestern Iran

The tomb of Esther and Mordecai in Iran has been torched, Anti-Defamation League national director Jonathan Greenblatt announced Friday on Twitter.

“Disturbing reports from Iran that the tomb of Esther & Mordechai, a holy Jewish site, was set afire overnight. We hope that the authorities bring the perpetrators of this antisemitic act to justice & commit to protecting the holy sites of all religious minorities in Iran,” Greenblatt tweeted.

The Jerusalem Post is seeking to obtain the reports cited by Greenblatt in his tweet. Greenblatt has termed Iran’s regime the top state-sponsor of antisemitism and Holocaust denial.

Prior to the arson of the tomb, one Twitter user named Mohammad Mahdi Akhyar threatened to destroy the holy site on May 14 in response to a tweet by the Israel’s Foreign Affairs’ Farsi Twitter page.

US Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Elan Carr, strongly condemned the attack on the Tomb of Esther and Mordecai and said “Iran’s regime is the world’s chief state sponsor of antisemitism.”

He called on the Islamic Republic to “stop incitement” and “protect its Jewish community” and its other minorities.

The Iranian American Jewish Federation of New York and Los Angeles, and the members of the Iranian Jewish community in the United States, said in a statement that they “are shocked and truly saddened by the news of fire in the ancient and official Iranian Heritage Site.”

The statement continued that “We hereby ask the responsible members of the government of Islamic Republic of Iran to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice for this barbaric act of insult to this holy site, and take steps to protect other sites of religious and historic significance.”

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations issued a statement on the incident, saying “This abhorrent and unconscionable act represents not only a blatantly antisemitic assault on Jews and Judaism, but an assault on all people of faith. It must be unequivocally condemned by the international community. The government of Iran must act to prevent further attacks and bring to justice those responsible.”

Prominent human rights activist Ghanem Nuseibeh tweeted that “As Chair of Muslims Against antisemitism, I unequivocally condemn such barbaric acts by the Tehran regime. The international community must immediately move to investigate and hold the regime responsible for any damage that may happen to the site of the Tzadikkim.” The Post reported in February that the United States Commission on International Religious

Freedom condemned the Iranian regime for its reported threats to raze the tomb of Esther and Mordecai in Hamadan.

Karmel Melamed, an Iranian-American expert on the Jewish community in the Islamic Republic of Iran, tweeted: “My sources who have contacts with Iran’s Jewish community have confirmed that there was an ‘attempt’ to burn the synagogue at the Tomb. Some smoke damage but the fire was minimal. No arrests of suspects have been made yet by Ayatollah regime.”

The Iranian regime-controlled The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Saturday that a suspect sought to enter the tomb. Radio Farda, the US government-funded news outlet that reports on Iran, wrote that IRNA “confirmed that there had been an attempt to break into the tomb of Esther and Mordecai, a holy Jewish site in Hamadan, but removed the report from its website two hours after its publication.”

IRNA said the perpetrator tried to enter the building through an adjacent bank but was not successful, wrote Radio Farda, adding that IRNA claimed that the shrine did not suffer damages and that the suspect’s face was captured on CCTV video. IRNA said the police are searching for the perpetrator.

Voice of America reporter Michael Lipin tweeted: “BREAKING: An eyewitness in #Iran’s Hamadan city told @VOAIran/@VOANews he saw several fire trucks going to the Tomb of Esther and Mordechai after an apparent arson attack on Jewish holy site Thursday night, but authorities didn’t allow people to get close.” •