The Union of Orthodox Congregations of America expresses its outrage at the sentences meted out by the Iran Revolutionary Court against ten Jewish defendants falsely charged with espionage. Although we were relieved at the acquittal of the three who were released previously on bail, the remaining ten Iranian Jews were convicted through a blatant miscarriage of justice. After seventeen months of imprisonment in jail in Shiraz, a show trial for the thirteen was conducted without any presentation of guilt in court and without witnesses in a trial closed to all observers, including the defendants’ families and members of the foreign diplomatic corps and human rights groups. “Confessions” were obtained in prison under duress and later recanted by many of the prisoners.

The only so-called crimes that these innocent Jewish people committed were the teaching of Torah and Jewish tradition to members of the Jewish community. The Orthodox Union deems this a gross violation of their civil, human and religious rights and demands that people of conscience the world over raise their voices in protest to this vicious and baseless persecution.

For seventeen months, members of the Orthodox Union all over the United States have prayed and acted vigorously on behalf of the Iran 13. We will continue to implore the world community not to accept Iran into the community of nations until it demonstrates true change in its treatment of minorities and moderates its extremist positions.

The Orthodox Union will continue to support legislative initiatives that will uphold sanctions and economic pressures against Iran. We call upon the administration to rescind the ease of sanctions against Iran that was enacted last March regarding the importation of luxury items. The income generated by these Iranian products amounts to one quarter of a billion dollars a year in support of the extremist regime in Iran and should not be supported.

As Secretary of State Madeline Albright has said, the behavior of the government in Iran towards these prisoners will be the standard by which Iran will affect the future of U.S.- Iran relations. We urge all our members and people of conscience the world over to continue the vigilance against this injustice and to labor for the release of the 10 imprisoned Iranians as well as for the safety and security of the 27,000 Jews living in Iran.