British Newspaper: Ahmadinejad Was Born Jewish
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born to a Jewish family that converted to Islam when he was four years old, according to a British newspaper.
The Daily Telegraph reported the discovery Saturday, based on Ahmadinejad’s original family name of Sabourjian.
The newspaper published a picture of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during last year’s election campaign, in a way that shows his family’s previous name.
According to the article, Sabourjian is a common Iranian Jewish name, especially among those from Aradan, where the |Iranian president was born.
The newspaper reported that the name means cloth weaver, or specifically talit weaver. It adds that the word “sabour” means talit, and the suffix “jian” indicates that his family was practicing Jews.
The British newspaper also reported that the name is included in an Iranian Home Ministry list of names reserved for Iranian Jews.
Ahmadinejad never denied that his family changed its name when it moved to Tehran in the 1950’s. However he has never stated the family’s original name.
Read J.J. Goldberg’s blog post, Ahmadinejad and Other Self-hating Jews.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
