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Middle East and North Africa

Iran's President recognizes Holocaust as historical fact

Rouhani regognized that "any crime that happens in history against humanity is reprehensible and condemnable"

Photo EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT

Photo EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT

NEW YORK, September 25 (Itar-Tass) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani recognized that the Holocaust is a historical fact. He has made a statement on the issue in an interview with the U.S. TV channel CNN on Tuesday. Rouhani is on a visit in New York, where he is participating in a U.N. General Assembly session.

In the view of the Iranian president, the Holocaust is a Nazi crime against the Jewish people. “Any crime that happens in history against humanity, including the crime the Nazis created towards the Jews, is reprehensible and condemnable,” Rouhani stated. He also noted that “when it comes to speaking of the dimensions of the Holocaust it is the historians that should reflect.”

Iranian ex-President’s position on Holocaust

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Rouhani’s predecessor as president, in his public speeches repeatedly put in doubt the fact and the extent of Jews’ extermination during the World War II, and offered to countries experiencing a sense of guilt for their deaths to transfer part of Iran’s territories to Israel in order to solve the Palestinian problem. These statements invariably provoked strong criticism from the global community.

Israel doesn’t trust Iran

Israel’s delegation to the United Nations plans to boycott the speech by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the United Nations General Assembly, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official tweet on September 24.

A source in the Israeli permanent mission to the United Nations confirmed such plans. “It is true, we will boycott Rouhani’s speech,” the source told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

Netanyahu has repeatedly said he does not believe Rouhani represents real change, pointing out that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei remains the ultimate authority.

The Jewish state doesn’t have confidence in Iran's statements of readiness for dialogue. They were called a disguise to continue developing nuclear weapons.

The relationship between Israel and the Islamic Republic remain tense. September 21, Israeli President urged to increase pressure on Iran. Israel believes that in the following six months, Iran could develop nuclear weapons.

Hassan Rouhani was inaugurated as Iran’s president on August 3. He is believed to be a flexible politician who knows how to find a compromise. During the election campaign, he said: "My goal is the economic recovery, morality providing and interaction with the rest of the world."

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