NEW YORK — Israel and the United States strongly condemned the Iranian government this week for charging 13 Iranian Jews with spying for America and the Jewish state.
Israel called for the immediate release of the detainees. U.S. officials criticized the arrests, calling them a “very disturbing signal.”
Iran’s state-run radio broadcast a report of the charges Monday, according to a report by the Associated Press quoting the British Broadcasting Company.
The 13 “were accused of spying for the ‘Zionist regime’ and ‘world arrogance,’ references to Israel and the United States respectively,” according to the Associated Press.
Espionage is punishable by death in Iran. In 1997, Iran hanged two people convicted of spying for Israel and America.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday met briefly with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss the arrests.
Annan has already made “numerous approaches on behalf of these people,” according to Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which has been involved in the issue since the Jews were arrested in March.
In New York on a personal visit Tuesday, Sharon “declared that none of the arrested men was involved in espionage and that none of them has, or has had in the past, any connection with any Israeli intelligence agency,” according to a statement from Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
“Israel is worried about these arrests which have occurred only because they are Jewish. Israel is deeply concerned about their fate and demands their immediate release,” the statement said.
The detainees — believed to include rabbis, teachers and leaders between the ages of 16 and 48 who live in the Isfahan and Shiraz communities in southwestern Iran — had been held for 10 weeks without being charged. They were arrested on the eve of Passover.
Testifying before the House International Relations Committee, Martin Indyk, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, called on Iran “to ensure that no harm comes to these individuals and to release them immediately.”
All three members of the committee who offered opening remarks at Tuesday’s hearing on developments in the Middle East also raised the plight of those under arrest.
This arrest “is certainly not conducive to Iran changing its image in the West,” said Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo).
“Phony charges against innocent civilians is not a good way for the Iranian government to attempt to reintegrate itself into the civilized world community,” said Lantos, who has frequently expressed a desire to travel to Iran.
On Tuesday, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Woodland Hills) introduced a resolution into Congress condemning Iran’s actions. Lantos is one of the measure’s co-sponsors.
“It is critical the United States and the international community put Iran on notice that the world is watching,” Sherman said. “The Iranian government will learn again and again that the Jewish leaders of Shiraz will not be forgotten and that the Iranian government will pay a price whenever it takes anti-Semitic action.”
On Tuesday, the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council issued an alert, urging that the people write letters, call or e-mail members of Congress supporting Sherman’s resolution.
The announcement of the charges has lent urgency to a situation that Jewish groups have been monitoring for several months.
Hoenlein’s organization, which represents 55 Jewish groups, has been working for the past 10 weeks with various governments around the world to help secure the Jews’ release.
In addition to Annan, other representatives of the United Nations, human rights groups, Jewish organizations, humanitarian agencies and business people with interests in the region have been involved in the issue, Hoenlein said.
The Iranian Jewish community in the United States has also been trying to help, he added. Advocates had worked with the utmost discretion in the hope that such cover would give Iran the “chance to back off.”
“We received assurances all along” that the Iranian government would “take certain steps” and that “people would be released,” Hoenlein said. “They promised all along different things, none of which have come to fruition.”
Now, he said, those involved are preparing to “go all out to respond to what’s happening.”
Following a conference call Monday night, Hoenlein and Ronald Lauder, the newly installed chairman of the Presidents Conference, issued a statement in which they asked for a redoubling of all efforts on behalf of the Iranian Jews.
“We call upon all civilized nations to intervene with the government of Iran to put an end to this injustice,” the statement said.
“Iran cannot purport to be moving towards a more moderate stance while continuing such inhumane practices.”