The Jewish Agency’s immigration office in Teheran was besieged by Iranian police for five days last month, beginning on the fifth anniversary of Israel’s independence, Itzhak Raphael, member of the Jewish Agency executive, today revealed.
Although the police ringing the office did not enter it to search the premises, the office’s regular activities were disrupted until Persia’s Foreign Minister intervened and arranged for a party of 116 Jews to leave Iran via Turkey, by the overland route. Mr. Raphael said the Iranian police action was undertaken under pressure from nearby Arab countries whose press launched a full-scale attack on Israel and the Agency.
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