Iranian authorities have downgraded the status of the site known as the Tomb of Esther and Mordechai the Jews. They have removed an official sign at the mausoleum, in the city of Hamadan in central Iran, that declared it an official pilgrimage site. 

The state-run Iranian news agency Fars hinted that the fate of the site could be much worse. It said Iran has chosen to ignore, for the time being, "the responsibility of Esther and Mordechai for the massacre of 75 thousand Iranians, which the Jews celebrate at Purim."

Fars noted that Jews from the world over visit the site, including Israelis who possess additional, non-Israeli passports.

According to the official Iranian news agency MEHR, a group of about 250 student-members of the Basij militia gathered in front of the tomb in December and threatened to tear it down The Basij members sent to threaten the landmark were students from Abu Ali Sina University. They said they were responding to alleged Israeli plans to damage the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem

"Muslims, be aware that [the Israelis] have started the destruction of Al-Aqsa mosque while their second sacred site in Iran, the Esther and Mordecai tomb, is at peace and no Muslims make a sound," the protesters stated. "We, the student basijis... warn Zionist regime leaders if they assault the Al-Aqsa mosque in any way we will destroy the tomb of these lowly murderers," they said.

Mordechai and Esther, they accused, massacred 77 thousand Iranians in a single day. Some of them wore burial shrouds as a declaration of their willingness to die for their cause.

According to a report on FightHatred.com, Iranian authorities have also taken to revising the history of Esther and Mordechai, teaching schoolchildren that the two carried out a massacre of tens of thousands of non-Jews, and that the annual Jewish festival of Purim is celebrated by Jews to commemorate this “Iranian Holocaust”.

Related Video: The Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamedan Iran