Mehdi Mashiah Lalezari

Mashiah Lalezari was a member of a large Jewish family in Hamadan, Iran. In his memoirs, Yohana Hafezi lists Lalezari as a group of Jews who barricaded themselves in Hamadan's telegraph office in an effort to send messages to the capital in protest of a boycott and other restrictions placed against Jewish businesses by Hamadan's influential Mollah Abdollah. When Mollah Abdollah's supporters breached the telegraph office, Lalezari and other members of the group were taken to the house of Mollah Abdollah, where they converted to Islam under duress.This incident has been recorded in Yohana Hafezi's memoirs, diplomatic cables of the Alliance organization in Iran, and Habib Levy's "History of Iranian Jews."

Many of those who converted to Islam after the telegraph incident returned to Judaism after the central government in Tehran intervened. Many others embraced the burgeoning Baha'i faith, including Lalezari. His hundreds of descendants include Jews, Baha'is, and Christians of Iranian heritage.