NEW YORK — The trial of the 13 Iranian Jews accused of spying for Israel moved into its final stages this week amid fresh concerns for the future of Iranian Jewry.
By Wednesday, eight of 13 had pleaded guilty to spying, one had denied the charges, and another had confessed to collecting information but denied it was espionage. The future of the remaining three, who have been out of jail on bail, is unclear.
Monday’s confession of Asher Zadmehr, a top religious leader, is horrible news for all the Jews in Iran, say American advocates for the 13 accused men.
“Based on the way the trial has been portrayed — and broadcasting two of the confessions on television — the entire community is now suspect,” said Pooya Dayanim, spokesperson for the Los Angeles-based Council of Iranian American Jewish Organizations.
“It also points to the prevailing anti-Semitism among the Iranian people that they have been so willing to buy into this propaganda.”
Meanwhile, Dayanim and others expressed skepticism about an Iranian judiciary official’s assurances this week that none of the 13 will face execution.
It is unclear whether the announcement suggested that Iran is bowing to international pressure — or whether it is the latest in what advocates say is a perpetuating trail of broken promises.
“I don’t know how much we can trust these things they say,” said Sam Kermanian, secretary-general of the American Iranian Jewish Federation, also in Los Angeles.
“At the end of the day, it will depend on the political climate. The verdict will not be a judicial decision; it will be a political decision. We have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario at all times,” Kermanian said.
Monday’s closed-court confession of Zadmehr, the senior religious leader in the southern city of Shiraz, came on the heels of a similar confession last week by Nasser Levi-Haim, 46, another religious leader.
“We’d been told earlier that the religious leaders would not be dragged into espionage,” said Dayanim, who added that the latest developments were prompting concerns about the community’s physical safety.
“The Jewish community is shocked and scared. Many have stopped going to work and sending their children to school, because they’re afraid of being taunted. They’re calling their children Israelis or spies.”
Advocates contend that all of the confessions were coerced and scripted prior to the hearings.
Zadmehr, 49, is a university English instructor and said to be the most learned of the Shiraz Jews, a fervently religious community. The oldest one standing trial, he said that he lived briefly in Israel before the 1979 Islamic Revolution but returned home soon after.
He was quoted as admitting that he collected cultural information about Iran and analyzed material brought in by other accused spies.
But he also denied he masterminded spy efforts, as some Iranian media asserted.
According to news reports, Zadmehr burst into tears after an embrace with his distraught wife and two children outside the courtroom.
On Wednesday, Javid Bent-Jacoub confessed that he collected military information and photographs for Israel but that he didn’t consider his actions espionage.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said this week that verdicts and sentences are expected by the end of the month.
Many hard-line Iranian clerics have called for executions of the accused Jews. If they aren’t put to death, the 10 will likely be sentenced for two to 10 years behind bars.
Advocates like Hoenlein, who has led an international campaign by the end of the month, are working to ensure that Iran pays a price for its handling of the case.
While some countries have indicated they may withdraw their ambassadors from Iran and cut their diplomatic relations if the judgments are seen as excessive, Hoenlein wants to hit Iran financially.
His organization is pressing member countries of the World Bank to further delay or cancel a planned $231 million loan package to Iran at the World Bank’s meeting set for yesterday.
The larger of the two loans, for $145 million, would improve waste water collection and distribution for some 2.1 million people in greater Tehran. The second loan, for $86 million, would improve the quality of primary family health care in both rural and urban areas.
The United States, Canada, Austria and France are fighting against the loan, said Hoenlein, while Germany supports it.