Iranian Jewish leader: Aliya of 40 Jews a 'misinformation campaign'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A top Iranian Jewish community leader on Wednesday described the recent immigration of 40 Iranian Jews to Israel as a "misinformation campaign" and insisted that Jews living in the Islamic Republic were not in danger under hard-line policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ciamak Morsathegh, who heads the Teheran Jewish Committee, claimed Wednesday that the immigrants were not Iranian because pictures broadcast on television in Israel on Tuesday did not show their faces. In Israel, the broadcasters did not show their faces because there was concern that publicity could lead to harm of Jews still in Iran. "This is a misinformation campaign, a campaign of lies against Iran and its Jewish community. We can't confirm that 40 Iranian Jews landed in Israel," Morsathegh told The Associated Press.