Iranian Jews
یهودیان ایرانی יהודי איראן | |
|---|---|
Notable Iranian Jews | |
| Total population | |
| 300,000–350,000 (est.) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Israel | 200,000–250,000 |
| United States | 60,000–80,000 |
| Iran | 9,100 |
| Canada | 1,000 |
| Australia | ~740 |
| Languages | |
| Judeo-Iranian languages, Iranian languages, Persian, Hebrew English (in diasporas), Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (mainly Judeo-Aramaic languages) | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Indian Jews, Bukharian Jews, Iraqi Jews, Syrian Jews, Kurdish Jews, Assyrian Jews, Afghan Jews, Pakistani Jews, Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Armenian Jews | |
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Iranian Jews constitute one of the oldest communities of the Jewish diaspora. Dating back to the biblical era, they originate from the Jews who arrived in Iran as Babylonian captives. Books of the Hebrew Bible (i.e., Esther, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah) bring together an extensive narrative shedding light on contemporary Jewish life experiences in ancient Iran; there has been a continuous Jewish presence in Iran since at least the time of Cyrus the Great, who led Achaemenid army's conquest of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and subsequently freed the Judahites from the Babylonian captivity.
After 1979, Jewish emigration from Iran increased dramatically in light of the country's Islamic Revolution and fall of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. Today, the vast majority of Iranian Jews reside in Israel and the United States.