On the fast of the 17th of Tammuz, prayer services on behalf
of the imprisoned Iranian Jews were held in a number of
synagogues in Eretz Yisroel.
The main service took place in Jerusalem at 5 P.M. in the
large Yeshuos Yaakov shul in Mea Shearim. At the
service, the entire sefer Tehillim was read and the
prayers of Habet miShomayim ure'ei and Ovinu
Malkeinu were recited. The shofar was blown.
At 6 P.M. prayer services on behalf of the Iranian Jews were
also held in the following Jerusalem synagogues: Or Hatzafon
in the Neve Tzvi neighborhood, the Beis Yisroel shul
in Ezras Torah, Be'er Shmuel in Unsdorf, Heichal Shmuel in
Mattersdorf, Zupnick in Givat Shaul, and Imrei Shefer in Har
Nof.
Prayers were also held in the Ashkenazi shul in Beitar
Illit, the Perushim shul in Beit Shemesh, and the Beis
Hillel shul in the Vishnitz section of Bnei Brak.
The president of France's National Assembly, Laurent Fabius,
warned Iran that Western governments could break diplomatic
ties with Tehran if it executed 13 Jews arrested on charges
of spying for Israel.
Calling on Tehran to spare the 13, Fabius, a former prime
minister, said: ``If that is not the case, they (Iran) can no
longer hope for normal relations with the international
community, for whom the rules of law, justice and freedom of
conscience are inextricably linked to democracy.''
Western concern over the Jews' arrest and pressure for their
release has mounted, but Iran has said it would not accept
meddling in the case.
Iran's hard-line press lashed out at France and its
parliamentary speaker Laurent Fabius over their support for
13 Iranian Jews accused of spying for Israel.
"Mr. Fabius is probably under the influence of Zionists,"
charged the conservative English-language Teheran
Times, calling on the Iranian foreign ministry to "tackle
with full force" the growing campaign in France seeking the
release of the 13.
Fabius, speaker of the French National Assembly, described
the death sentence hanging over the suspects as "barbaric"
and said the accusations of spying were unfounded
Conservative Iranian officials including judicial chief
Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi have spoken of the suspects, who
were arrested several months ago, as spies who deserved to
hang.
The arrests threaten to undermine efforts by moderate
President Mohammad Khatami to end 20 years of estrangement
with the West.
In another development, the 13 spoke to their families last
week for the first time since their incarceration, Israel
Radio reported.
Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference
of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, said that while
he welcomes the gesture, the Iranian authorities are merely
granting the Jewish prisoners their rights.
Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi has claimed that the
13 Jews passed on secret military information to
foreigners.
Kharrazi revealed the charges in separate letters to United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, foreign ministers of
unnamed countries, and other U.N. and European Union
officials.
The letters, sent in an apparent attempt to ease Western
concern over the arrests and mounting pressure on Iran to
release the Jewish prisoners, also "assured" that the accused
would get a fair trial.
Officials say those arrested in connection with the case
include Moslems, but they have not revealed the names of the
suspects or the nature of the evidence against them.
JTA correspondent M. Dorf adds:
The future of the Clinton administration's diplomatic dance
with Teheran could depend on the fate of 13 Jews who face
execution in Iran.
President Clinton's overtures to Iran began two years ago
when the Islamic Republic elected Mohammad Khatami, a
relative moderate, as president.
Now, members of the U.S. Congress who are skeptics of that
policy have put Iran on notice that the United States will
exact a price if the Jews are convicted on charges of working
as "Zionist spies."
But just what is the world going to do?
America's allies do not appear to be willing to stake their
relations with Iran on the situation of the 13 Jews. Although
leaders of more than a dozen countries, some with diplomatic
relations with Iran, have voiced concern over the arrests and
called for the prisoners' release, business deals continue
unfettered.
European states have shown no signs of slowing their efforts
to improve relations with Iran, a process that began last
year when Iranian clerics lifted an order to assassinate
author Salman Rushdie. And with regard to Iran, Europe, and
not the U.S., is the key player. "The American threats are of
some utility but more important is what the Europeans do,"
said Daniel Pipes, the editor of Middle East Quarterly.
"The United States looms large in terms of ideology and myth
in Iran but is rather small in practical matters," he said,
citing the low level of trade compared to Europe.
