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Iranian Jewish Community Leader Dies


The former chief rabbi of Iran’s tiny Jewish community has died.

Yousef Hamadani Cohen was said to have been 98 years old.

Iranian reports said he had been ill for several years.

He was buried on Sunday in Tehran.

Cohen was the spiritual leader of Iran's Jews from around 1994 to 2007 and remained a senior rabbi after he retired as leader.

Around 20,000 Jews are believed to live in Iran, making them one of the country’s smallest minority groups.

Many more Jews lived in the country before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Jews are officially recognized as a religious minority in Iran and the community has a representative in parliament.
Based on reporting by AFP and AP

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