Siamak Moreh Sedgh, Iran's Only Jewish MP, Compares Israel To Nazis On Gaza Airstrikes

Iran’s only Jewish member of parliament Monday compared Israel to the Nazis and accused it of committing criminal acts by bombing Hamas targets in Gaza as part of Operation Protective Edge.

“The Zionist regime's crimes are reminiscent of the actions taken by the German Nazis during the first and second world wars,” Sedgh was quoted as saying by Iran's Fars News Agency. Sedgh, who holds the Iranian parliament’s seat designated for Jews, also likened the bombings in Gaza to atrocities committed by late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

While Iran’s official state news agency sometimes can’t be taken seriously (it took a story from the satirical website The Onion about rural white Americans preferring then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to U.S. President Barack Obama as fact), there are indications the story is true. For one, the article is about an Iranian politician, and it’s likely Fars got the story directly from Sedgh. Also, Israeli newspaper Haaretz picked up the piece.

Despite being Jewish, Sedgh’s comments aren’t that shocking, as he’s never been at odds with the Iranian regime. By contrast, his predecessor, Maurice Motamed, publicly slammed Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust, Haaretz said.

Sedgh also said Jews in Iran go about their daily lives without interference.

“Jews are safe in Iran. That’s true. Nobody needs guards. There has never been a single instance of anti-Semitism in Iranian society,” he told Russia Today in a 2010 interview, according to Haaretz. “This phenomenon belongs to the European, Christian world. There is no anti-Semitic sentiment in Iran. We have no attacks on synagogues or cemeteries as happens in Paris."