Iran's sole Jewish lawmaker, Siamak Moreh Sedgh, told the Associated Press Thursday that he will be joining President Hasan Rouhani's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week. This marks a first for the Islamic Republic.
Moreh Sedgh, 48, represents Iran's Jewish community in the country's parliament and has done so since 2012.
Rouhani had promised to give Iran's minority communities a larger role in the country's governance. This is the first time a Jewish lawmaker will accompany the Iranian president to the U.N., a step towards fulfilling Rouhani's promise. Moreh Sedgh told the Associated Press that he is just waiting for his U.S. visa.
This choice also displays a contrast between Rouhani and his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was decried internationally for repeated Holocaust denial as well as calling for the destruction of Israel.
Rouhani is scheduled to speak at the general assembly on Tuesday and to give a speech on disarmament at a later date in New York.
Iran is host to the largest Jewish community in the Middle East except for Israel. Iranian Jewish lawmaker Morris Moatamed accompanied then-parliament speaker Mahdi Karroubi to New York during the 1990s.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו