Iran and the Jewish people: An alliance before war

Israel and Iran have been in almost constant conflict for nearly 50 years. Media tends to frame the violence as endemic, and inevitable — but it’s not. Between the creation of Israel in 1948 and Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, the countries cooperated, if cautiously. And the bridge between them was one of the largest and oldest Jewish populations in the Middle East: a thriving community of Iranian Jews. Today on the show, the story of Iran and Israel, told through the life of Jewish Iranian Habib Elghanian. Guests: Roya Hakakian , author of Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran Shahrzad Elghanayan , author of Titan of Tehran: From Jewish Ghetto to Corporate Colossus to Firing Squad - My Grandfather's Life Meir Javedanfar , Israeli-Iranian political scientist and teacher at Reichman University To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free,

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Iran and the Jewish people: An alliance before war is an episode from Throughline by NPR.

This episode is 51:32 long.

This episode was published on Mar 5, 2026.

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