Iranian Synagogue ‘Completely Destroyed,’ Reportedly By US-Israeli Airstrike
US-Israeli airstrikes early Tuesday morning reduced a synagogue in Tehran to rubble, according to local reports and footage posted to social media.The Iranian newspaper Shargh reported on Tuesday that the Rafi-Nia Synagogue, which it described as “one of the most important places for Khorasan Jews to gather and celebrate,” was “completely destroyed” as the US and Israel launched attacks across the city.Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported that the temple was hit when the residential building next door was attacked. Attacks across Iran overnight reportedly killed more than a dozen people.A video shows Rabbi Younes Hammami Lalezar, a leader of the country’s Jewish community, walking amongst the still-smoking wreckage with emergency response teams. Other photos show Hebrew-language prayer books scattered among the rubble.Rafi-Nia is one of about 100 synagogues in Iran, including 30 in Tehran, that serve as houses of worship for Iran’s Jewish community, the largest in the Middle East outside Israel. The attack came on the sixth day of the Passover holiday.







