Uruguay condemns Holocaust denial by top Iranian diplomat

On behalf of the government in Montevideo, Uruguay's Foreign Minister Luis Almagro has strongly condemned statements made by Iran’s ambassador to the South American country, Hojatollah Soltani, who at a public meeting last week had questioned the Nazis’ mass murder of Jews. When asked about the Iranian position towards the Holocaust, Soltani (pictured) said: “World War II began in 1939 and ended in 1945. It is said that during that war the Nazis killed two million, four million, six million... - there are different figures on the Jews’ news. This was named a 'Holocaust', and Israel is using this issue to present itself to the world as a victim, and asking for economic and political support from some countries in Europe. "

He then added that Iran's interest was "to study" the Holocaust to see if it was true or not. "Maybe some people died, some were murdered, I don’t know, maybe thousands of Jews. But that figure of two million, four million, six million, that is a lie according to some European historians who have submitted documents," Soltani was quoted as saying.

Following calls by Jewish leaders, including the Jewish Community of Uruguay and the secretary-general of the Latin American Jewish Congress, Saúl Gilvich, the Foreign Ministry called in an official of Iran’s Embassy and expressed its condemnation for the statements by the ambassador. In a statement, the Ministry said that for Uruguay the Holocaust was an “undeniable historic event”, and denying that it happened, or questioning its extent, was equal to incitement to discrimination. Foreign Minister Almagro reminded Iran that “survivors of the Jewish Holocaust” still lived in Uruguay. However, he added that diplomatic and trade relations with Iran would not be affected by the incident.