EU Leaders Slam Iran On Holocaust Denial

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad (right) chatting with Jewish delegates to the Holocaust conference in Tehran (Fars) December 15, 2006 -- European Union leaders today sharply criticized the Iranian government for having sponsored a conference which cast doubt on the Holocaust.

The leaders, in a statement issued at a summit in Brussels, said the 25-member bloc "condemns any denial of the Holocaust as a historical fact, either in whole or in part."


The statement also "deplored" Iran's failure to suspend its uranium-enrichment program as demanded by the United Nations top nuclear watchdog.


(dpa)

Iranian Anti-Zionism

Iranian Anti-Zionism

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

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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)

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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.


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Hear the complete interview (about nine minutes):
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