Two Jewish American nationals were among the 35 Jews who were arrested in Iran’s Tehran and Shiraz last month for allegedly having ties to Israel, KAN revealed in a Monday report.
The 35 Jews who were arrested were part of a government crackdown by the Islamic Republic that began right after the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June, according to a report by HRANA, the Human Rights Activist News Agency.
Five of those arrested are still detained, including one of the two American Jews. The other, an Iranian-American Jew from Los Angeles, was released on bail. He arrived in the country to visit family.
The one American Jew still imprisoned had initially left Iran for New York three decades ago, but returned to also visit relatives.
Releasing the remaining detainees
An additional 11 Jews were released from detention in recent days, according to the report, and efforts are still being made for the remaining five detainees’ release, the report said.
“The two Americans arrived at the wrong place at the wrong time,” KAN quoted a source involved in the efforts to release them as saying.
A report earlier this month quoted a senior Iranian communal leader, who lives in Los Angeles, as saying that Islamic Republic authorities are checking the cell phones of those they arrest, looking for records of any calls to the Jewish state.
“Most Iranian Jews have family in Israel,” he explained.
During Operation Rising Lion, many Iranian Jews reached out to check on the safety of their relatives in Israel.