They’re even exempt from the ban on alcohol, although discretion is advised. Iran’s Jews have been here nearly 3,000 years. In 1979 most fled the Islamic Revolution to the US, fearing a pogrom which never came. Robert, a real estate agent has come back from LA to look for an Iranian wife and Shabbat prayers on a Friday night is the place to be. But times have changed. He’s looking to marry young, and most girls think his age too high a price to pay for a ticket to the US and ’freedom’. Behind closed doors Jews throw off Islamic dress and party freely to celebrate the birth of a boy. Soraya, baby Ramtin’s aunt, says he can still expect a life of discrimination. ‘They prefer to have Muslim people in their universities or in their factories’. But for many Jews here, Iran is in their blood and Islamic fundamentalism will not drive them out.

ABC Australia