Maurice Motamed or Morris Motamed ( fa, موریس معتمد; born 1945)
[
] is an Iranian politician who was elected in 2000 and again in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...
as a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
member of the
Iranian Parliament
The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The Pa ...
(preceded by
Manuchehr Eliasi and succeeded by
Siamak Moreh Sedgh
Siyamak More Sedgh ( fa, سیامک مرهصدق, Siyāmak More-Sedq; born 1965) are a Jewish Iranian politician and doctor who was the holder of the Iranian Parliament's reserved seat for the Jewish minority from 2008 to 2020, and is also ...
),
[ representing the ]Jewish community
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
which has by Iran's constitution retained a reserved seat since the Persian Constitution of 1906.
Career
In Parliament, he has been active in defending Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
and Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
s against discrimination. He also played a prominent role in the efforts to alleviate the sentences against some members of the Jewish community for alleged spying or illegally trying to flee the country. He also served as a member of the Parliament's Energy Committee.
In various media, Motamed has regularly expressed his support for the official positions of the Iranian government on international affairs in order to stress the national loyalty of Iranian Jews for the country, including support for Iran nuclear program (he was a member of the Majlis energy commission).
With regard to Holocaust denial comments made by Iran's former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), , Motamed has expressed significant concerns, noting that "Denial of such a great historical tragedy that is connected to the Jewish community can only be considered an insult to all the world's Jewish communities." He also criticised Iranian television for broadcasting antisemitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Ant ...
programmes. He also added that, "The Iranian Jews have been present in this country for a long time, for some 2,700 ears
An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists o ...
During these 2,700 years they have always been in full understanding with the society, they've lived in friendship and brotherhood, so therefore I don't think that bringing up such an issue could damage the Jewish community in Iran."
See also
*Persian Jews
Persian Jews or Iranian Jews ( fa, یهودیان ایرانی, ''yahudiān-e-Irāni''; he, יהודים פרסים ''Yəhūdīm Parsīm'') are the descendants of Jews who were historically associated with the Persian Empire, whose successor ...
*Iranian Parliament religious minority reserved seats
There are five reserved seats in the Iranian Parliament for the religious minorities. After the Persian Constitutional Revolution, the Constitution of 1906 provided for reserved Parliamentary seats granted to the recognized religious minorities, ...
* Iran–Israel relations
References
External links
Reuters, Iran's religious minorities waning despite own MPs, February 16, 2000
* ttp://www.zoroastrians.info/news/newsDetail.jsp?newsID=42 Associated Press, Iran O.K's Equalizing 'Blood Money', November 3, 2002
Morris (Maurice) Motamed, A report on the activities of Iranian Jewish member of The Islamic Parliament, Ofegh Bina (Quarterly Magazine), Vol. 5, No. 21, Autumn 2003, pp.61-62
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motamed, Maurice
1945 births
Living people
Jewish Iranian politicians
Iranian Jews
Jewish Representatives in Islamic Consultative Assembly
Members of the 6th Islamic Consultative Assembly
Members of the 7th Islamic Consultative Assembly