How Iran’s Jewish community purchased the tomb of Esther and Mordechai – Documents discovered in the CAHJP archives reveal a surprising initiative undertaken by the Jews of Iran and the country’s government to mark 2,500 years since the Edict of Cyrus. | The Jerusalem Post

It is not entirely clear whose idea it was, but in 1968, a vigorous correspondence developed between Jewish representatives in the Iranian parliament and officials from the regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s ruler at the time. The focus of this exchange was an attempt to purchase the Tomb of Esther and Mordechai at Hamedan. The pretext? Celebrations marking the 2,500th anniversary of the Edict of Cyrus, which were to be held in 1971.