Tiny Minority of Extremists Alert: “Top Iran Cleric Backs President’s Holocaust Remark,” from Reuters, with thanks to Sr. Soph:
TEHRAN (Reuters) – A senior Iranian cleric on Friday backed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent comment that the Holocaust was a myth, the official IRNA news agency reported.
“The recent comments made by the president … are completely logical and are what all Iranians say,” Ayatollah Ali Meshkini told worshippers at Friday prayers in the city of Qom.
Ahmadinejad on Wednesday said the Holocaust was a myth and suggested Israel be moved to North America or Europe, comments that drew swift international condemnation.
“After the Second World War, the Zionists have spread lies that Hitler, Austria and Germany killed more than six million Jews in the furnaces in order to create a favorable situation for themselves in the world,” said Meshkini.
Meshkini is chairman of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, a clerical body that elects and supervises the performance of Iran’s Supreme Leader, currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.