Iran threat to destroy tombs of Purim heroes Esther and Mordechai alarms US agency

Iranian leaders called for the tombs to be razed and replaced with a “Palestinian consulate” in revenge for Trump’s preferential treatment to the Israelis.

By Aaron Sull, World Israel News

Iran’s recent threat to destroy the sacred tombs of Purim heroes Esther and Mordechai has caught the eye of the U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

“USCIRF is troubled by reported threats to the tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan, Iran, and emphasizes the Iranian government’s responsibility to protect religious sites,” tweeted the U.S. agency on Wednesday.

The response comes after the Alliance for Rights of All Minorities in Iran (ARAM), an NGO that advocates for human rights in Iran, reported on Sunday that Iranian leaders called for the tombs to be razed and replaced with a “Palestinian consulate” in revenge for President Donald Trump’s preferential treatment to the Israelis.

ARAM also reported that members belonging to Iran’s Basij paramilitary terror force attempted to raid the tombs on Sunday.

In a Basij statement recorded earlier this month by the Iranian Christian news agency Mohabat, the terror group called Trump’s peace plan a “vicious act of treachery” and warned, “You will no longer find the place as a tomb in the land of Hamadan.”

“With the help of God will defeat the recent conspiracy and fulfill the promise of the demise of the racist and childish Zionist regime to make this place a dear Palestinian Consulate… And you will see this promise come true,” the Basij said, as quoted by the Christian news agency.

The shrine containing the tombs of Esther and Mordechai from the Biblical Purim story was added to Iran’s National Heritage List in 2008. It was removed in 2011 following conspiracy allegations by Islamic extremists claiming Israel wanted to tear down the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount.