A landmark Jewish house of worship in the heart of Tehran was destroyed overnight by US and Israeli strikes. The attack at the Rafi-Nia Synagogue began as war and war-like activity broke out across Iran after the United States threatened to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The synagogue, a cultural and religious center for Jews from the northeastern Khorasan region, was bombed after a missile hit a nearby residential home. Civil defense workers and members of the Jewish community picked up pieces of charred rubble and Hebrew prayer books and religious documents scattered around as it happened.
Homayoun Sameh, the Jewish representative in Iran’s parliament, said in a video broadcast by state-run IRIB News: “The Zionist regime showed no mercy to this community during the Jewish holidays and targeted one of our ancient and holy synagogues. And yes, during this attack, the synagogue building was totally destroyed and our Torah scrolls were left under the rubble.”
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— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) April 7, 2026
🇮🇷🇮🇱Members of the Iranian Jewish community inspect what is left of their synagogue in Tehran after Israel bombed it. pic.twitter.com/WW2T5XemWX
The attack fell on Passover, an important holiday for the Iranian Jewish community. While the Jewish population in Iran has declined since the 1979 Revolution, it remains one of the largest in the Middle East outside of Israel, with some 8,000 to 15,000 people living in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz.
The death toll from the attack on the Rafi-Nia Synagogue was part of a broader operation that killed at least 15 people overnight: Pardis: Six bodies were brought out of the rubble of buildings east of the capital. Shahriar: Nine people died after an Israeli air attack hit a residential neighborhood west of Tehran.
The violence has reached far beyond Iran's borders: Lebanon: 1,400 people have been killed and 1.1 million displaced as Israeli forces go to war with Hezbollah. Turkey: A gunfight erupted outside the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday, resulting in two attackers and a police officer’s injuries. Iran is launching assault missiles against Israel and its neighbors, which has led to a temporary closure of the King Fahd Causeway between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
