December 26, 2007

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A prominent Jewish group in Iran sought to distance itself on Wednesday from a secretive exodus to Israel by a group of 40 Jews.

A joint statement by the Jewish association in Tehran and the community's member of parliament, carried by the official IRNA news agency, rejected any suggestion that they were involved in or supported the group's departure from Iran.

Iran does not recognise Israel and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map".

Jews enjoy good living conditions in Iran, the Jewish group said, a day after an Israeli official said 40 Jewish immigrants had secretly flown to Israel.

"We Iranian Jews have been Iranians, are Iranians and will be Iranians and we are ready to make any sacrifice for the cause of the country with love for our country," it said.

An Israeli immigration official said Tuesday's influx was the largest from Iran as a single group in recent years. The newcomers were offered $10,000 each by a Christian and Jewish fellowship to make the move, the official said.

Most of the new arrivals had come from Tehran, the official said. They had abandoned their property in Iran and left without announcing their final destination, he said.

Israel is home to tens of thousands of Iranian immigrants, many of whom maintain discreet ties with relatives in their native land despite almost three decades of cold war-style hostility between the Islamic Republic and the Jewish state.

The numbers of Jews and Christians in Iran have dwindled since the 1979 Islamic revolution, but the Shi'ite Muslim country denies charges from its old foe the United States that it discriminates against religious minorities.