Tehran To Host 'Scientific' Conference On Holocaust

President Ahmadinejad addressing an anti-Zionism conference in Tehran in October (Fars) 29 January 2006 -- An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said today Tehran was planning to hold a Holocaust conference in the coming spring.

Hamid-Reza Assefi also invited British Prime Minister Tony Blair to take part in what Tehran calls "scientific seminar" on the Holocaust to clarify "the real dimensions of the Holocaust."


Blair has lashed out at the planned meeting as "shocking, ridiculous, stupid," and said President Mahmud Ahmadinejad should come and see the evidence of the Holocaust himself in Europe.


Ahmadinejad sparked international outrage last year when he called for the eradication of Israel, branded the Holocaust a "myth" and called for the relocation of Israel.


The Holocaust applies to the extermination of some 6 million Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II.


(AFP, dpa)

Iranian Anti-Zionism

Iranian Anti-Zionism

President Ahmadinejad visiting the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in October (Fars)

READ

Each year in Iran, the last Friday of Ramadan is celebrated as Qods (Jerusalem) Day, officially a day for expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people.
"I have been notifying the Muslims of the danger posed by the usurper Israel," Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father of Iran's Islamic Revolution, said in an August 1979 announcement. "I ask all the Muslims of the world and the Muslim governments to join together to sever the hand of this usurper and its supporters...and, through a ceremony demonstrating the solidarity of Muslims worldwide, announce their support for the legitimate rights of the Muslim people..." (more)

SEE ALSO:

Iranian President's Latest Comments About Israel Spark Further Condemnation

Iranian President Says Light Surrounded Him During UN Speech

INTERVIEW: On December 22, 2005, RFE/RL's Radio Farda spoke with FRED ZEIDMAN, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Zeidman commented on Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's anti-Israeli comments.


LISTEN

Hear the complete interview (about nine minutes):
Real Audio Windows Media

ARCHIVE: For an archive of RFE/RL's coverage of Iran, click here.