Iranian parliament's Jewish MP to join Rouhani at the UN
Iran's sole Jewish, non-Zionist parliamentarian to join Iran's president in bid to revamp Tehran's image.
By JPOST.COM STAFFIranian President-elect Hassan Rouhani (photo credit: Reuters)
The only Jewish MP in the Iranian parliament will join Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in the US at the UN General Assembly in a bid to help revamp Tehran's image in the international community, the Guardian reported on Thursday night.Siamak Moreh Sedgh, who represents Iran's Jewish community and holds a reserved seat in the Iranian parliament, previously attended the UN General Assembly meet as a part of a delegation led by former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009, according to the Washington Free Beacon.He is a vocal anti-Zionist, who blasted Israel and Zionism in 2009 in a speech to commemorate "Al-Quds day."“On this day, in concert with the Muslim nations, the country’s Jews will direct their anti-iniquity cries against all servants of imperialism and Zionism," he was quoted by Iranian news agency Fars as saying.He also helped stage a 2008 rally outside UN offices in Tehran against "Israeli war crimes and the slaughter of the innocent people in the Gaza Strip," according to Israeli media reports.Sedgh is said to be joining Rouhani in New York to show the world that the Islamic Republic is not against Jews."Our Jewish countrymen are a recognized minority in Iran and have an active representative in the parliament," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted in the Tehran Times as saying."We were never against Jews. We oppose Zionists who are a small group. We do not allow the Zionists to represent Iran as an anti-Semitic country in their propaganda so they can cover up their crimes against Palestinian and Lebanese people," Zarif added.Sedgh's visa for the US has not yet been issued, the Guardian reported.
