A Jewish woman was murdered Monday in Iran by Muslim extremists intent on taking away her home. The brutal killing took place in the city of Isfahan, today home to fewer than 100 Jewish families, and one of the cities where a nuclear reactor is located.
According to the woman's family, a mosque has been under construction near the home, Voice of Israel government radio reported. Its worshipers demanded that the family vacate their house in order to expand the mosque building.
Instead, 57-year-old Tuba N., the owner of the property, filed a complaint about the demands. For years, her Muslim neighbors had harassed her family, hoping to drive them away and confiscate the property, the Times of Israel also reported.
This past Monday while her husband was in Tehran on another matter, thugs came to the home, tied up the woman's two sisters who were living there as well, and stabbed Tuba to death.
Iranian government authorities reportedly confiscated the woman's dismembered body and have not returned it to the family.
Journalists have been unable to verify the report.
The event has caused much fear and consternation in the remnants of the ancient Jewish community that still is left in Iran, once known as Persia. The current Iranian government census reports there are 8,756 Jews left in the country. In 2009, there were 25,000 Jews across the country; in Isfahan, Iran's third-largest city, there were 1,200.