Comment by johnbarron

To clarify, the quote comes directly from the Wikipedia article on Iranian Jews [1], which cites a BBC source [2].

The phrasing is "After Israel, it is home to the second-largest Jewish population in the Middle East."

The links you posted actually support my point rather than refute it.

The "Jewish population by country" page lists Iran at 8,500–20,000. Palestine is not listed as a separate entry with a larger Jewish population.

You may be referring to Israeli settlers in the West Bank, but those individuals are Israeli citizens counted under Israel's population in every demographic source I'm aware of.

Counting them under "Palestine" would require simultaneously recognizing Palestine as a sovereign state while attributing Israeli citizens to it, which no standard demographic dataset does.

If you have a source that counts a Jewish population in a recognized state called Palestine that exceeds Iran, I'd genuinely be interested to see it. But calling a direct Wikipedia/BBC citation a "straight up lie" is a strong claim that should probably come with a stronger source and also shows, you arrive with an ulterior agenda, that I at least, do not have.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Jews [2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5367892.stm