Forty Jewish immigrants from Iran secretly flew to Israel on Tuesday, the largest such influx from the Islamic Republic as a single group in recent years, an Israeli immigration official said. Precise details of how the immigrants travelled from Iran to Israel were barred for publication under Israel's censorship rules for security matters.
The new arrivals were welcomed in a ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport after arriving on a flight from a transit country which was not named due to censorship. Family members already in Israel gathered to welcome their relatives, who were offered $10,000 each by a Christian and Jewish fellowship to make the move, the official 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 official from the Jewish Agency, one of Israel's main organisations which helps bring Jews to the country, said the newcomers abandoned their property and possessions in Iran and left without announcing their intended final destination.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said most of the new arrivals had come from Tehran. More than 200 Iranians have moved to Israel in 2007, up from 65 in the previous year.
Israel does not forbid its citizens from visiting Iran as the countries were never in open conflict. Iran does not recognise Israel and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadi-nejad, has called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map".
Iran's nuclear programme has further stirred war fears in Israel, though Tehran denies having hostile designs. Israel is believed to have the region's only atomic arsenal, but refuses to confirm or deny it.