On May 6, some 75 hardliner lawmakers grilled Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on his Holocaust stance. He had called the Holocaust a “horrifying tragedy” that “should never occur again” in an interview with a German television station in February. Iran’s 290-member parliament voted against censuring the foreign minister after intense exchanges with critics. Zarif had previously been summoned to explain his stances on the United States and Israel. The latest parliament session came just two days after hardliners held a conference to warn Iran's nuclear negotiators, led by Zarif, against giving too many concessions in talks with the world's six major powers.
Zarif earned applause from some lawmakers for accusing Israel of spreading propaganda against Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “shamelessly claims Iran denies the Holocaust, that we are after a nuclear bomb to create another Holocaust. As long as I am foreign minister, I will not allow the Holocaust to be exploited to ruin our national image and dignity,”
pledged Zarif. Lawmakers said they were “
satisfied” with Zarif’s explanation after the parliament session, which was broadcast live on state radio.
Zarif was first questioned about his position in September 2013, shortly after he joined Twitter and wished a happy new year to the world’s Jews. His Rosh Hashanah message sparked a revealing exchange with Christine Pelosi, daughter of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. She tweeted that the new year would be “even sweeter” if Zarif would “end Iran’s Holocaust denial.” Zarif, known for a dry sense of humor, tweeted back, “Iran never denied it. The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone. Happy New Year.” Zarif later confirmed to The Iran Primer that he knew that he was communicating with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s daughter. President Rouhani’s account retweeted Zarif’s reply to Pelosi.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency then asked the foreign minister about his statements on the Holocaust. Iranians condemn the “killing of Jews by Nazis, as we condemn the killing of Palestinians by the Zionists,” Zarif said. “Judaism is a divine religion that we respect in accordance with the teachings of our religion and our country’s constitution.” He added that Iran’s “Jewish compatriots are a recognized minority” and that they have a representative in parliament. “Jews aren’t our enemies,” Zarif clarified. He also claimed that “Zionists are a minority” among them. “The Zionists for 60 years used the Holocaust as a pretext for all the crimes against the Palestinians,” Zarif told Tasnim. Zarif posted the interview text on his Facebook account.
Zarif’s stance contrasts sharply with former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust denial. Ahmadinejad repeatedly
called the extermination of 6 million Jews a “
myth” during his tenure from 2005 to 2013. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei most recently
questioned the Holocaust in March 2014. The “Holocaust is an event whose reality is uncertain and if it has happened, it's uncertain how it has happened,” he said in a speech marking Persian New Year.
