Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei published a video to his official website on Wednesday questioning whether or not the Holocaust actually happened, defying the world on a day it paused to remember the victims of the Nazi genocide in Europe.
“It is not clear whether the core of this matter is a reality or not,” Mr. Khamenei said of the Holocaust in the video, which was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, the Jerusalem Post reported.
“Even if it is a reality, it is not clear how it happened. … This is the ignorance that exists in today’s world. We should be awake. [Muslims] should know that we can stand up against the ignorance,” he continued.
The religious leader accused America of assisting “the fake Zionist regime” and said when “they say in their slogans that they are opposed to terrorism and ISIS they are lying.”
He also accused European nations of silencing any view that does not support the historically accepted account of the genocide against the Jews.
“If someone does this they stop, arrest, imprison and sue him,” he said, according to the Jerusalem Post. “This is while they claim to be supporters of freedom.”
The video was uploaded as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani continued his trip to Europe.
Before leaving Rome for Paris on Wednesday, Mr. Rouhani charged that the “Zionist lobby” in the U.S. was standing in the way of better ties between Washington and Tehran, the Times of Israel reported.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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