January 16, 2006
Iranian authorities have decided that they will sponsor a conference "to assess by scientific means the scale of the Holocaust and discuss its consequences", according to foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi. The statement follows president Ahmadinejad's recent assertion that the murder of six million European Jews was "a myth". Those remarks, along with assertions that Israel should be wiped off the map, sparked international condemnation and heightened the Tehran government's isolation. The statement did not say when the meeting would take place or who would be involved, but stated that it would be sponsored by Iran's foreign ministry and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, "and in consultation with other countries, to pursue this issue."
Read about the WJC's compaign for international condemnation of President Ahmadinejad
