International
Iran to hold Holocaust meet
8/28/2006
- By AFP
Tehran, Aug. 28: Iran is to hold an international conference on the Holocaust in December that will allow historians to present "hidden aspects" of the slaughter of Jews under Nazi Germany, newspapers reported on Monday. The two-day conference, entitled "Study of Holocaust: A Global Perspective" is to start on December 11, according to reports widely printed in the Iranian press. It will touch on issues including the "reasons for anti-Semitism in Europe", "the Holocaust and Zionism", "the Holocaust in historical documents" and "Holocaust: rules and media," the reports said. According to the foreign ministry's international and political studies office, "there should be scientific opportunities created for researchers to present hidden aspects of this most important event of the 20th century as transparently as possible."
Iran's fiercely anti-Israeli regime is supportive of so-called Holocaust revisionists, who maintain that the systematic slaughter by the Nazis of mainland Europe's Jews and other groups during World War II was either invented or exaggerated. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also prompted international anger by dismissing the Holocaust as a "myth" used to justify the creation of Israel.
Iran has been floating the idea of holding a Holocaust conference for several months, but this is the first time a firm date has emerged. In mid-August, Tehran also staged an international contest of cartoons on the Holocaust, in response to the publication of controversial caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.