Iranian foreign minister condemns Holocaust
In Facebook status, Javad Zarif says Iran denounces ‘the massacre of Jews by the Nazis’; post follows a Rosh Hashanah greeting by same minister
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif condemned the “Nazi massacre of the Jews” in a Facebook status in Farsi on Friday, marking a significant departure from the Holocaust-denying approach of the Iranian regime during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“We condemn the massacre of Jews by the Nazis, and we condemn the massacre of Palestinians by the Zionists,” he wrote.
This past week has seen a flurry of social media activity surrounding statements by Iranian officials that could be perceived as taking a more conciliatory tone after Ahmadinejad’s turbulent eight years in office. Ahmadinejad’s anti-Israel, anti-Semitic remarks prompted repeated international outcries — especially in the West
On Thursday, Zarif tweeted “Happy Rosh Hashanah,” in English to the amazement of the Western eyes.
Happy Rosh Hashanah
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) September 5, 2013
He then followed up with an exchange with the daughter of former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, clarifying that any Holocaust denial was done by a man who is “now gone.”
@sfpelosi Iran never denied it. The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone. Happy New Year.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) September 5, 2013
“Every year we wish happy new year to our Christian compatriots,” Zarif told the Tasnim news agency following the Facebook post.
“We also have a Jewish minority that is represented in parliament by one deputy,” he said.
“We have nothing against Jews and Judaism, but we do not allow Zionists to present Iran as being anti-Semitic and bellicose in their propaganda so they can continue to repress the Palestinian people… and have their crimes forgotten,” he added.
On Thursday, the recently elected president of Iran, Hasan Rouhani, who is considered ostensibly moderate and has promised more dialogue with the West, confirmed that the Foreign Ministry will lead nuclear talks with world powers in a shift away from security officials setting Tehran’s strategies for the critical negotiations.
Thursday’s report on the website of Rouhani’s office gives the official stamp on a policy change first indicated last month after his inauguration.
It makes Zarif, a veteran, Western-educated diplomat, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator.
Also, on Thursday, an Iranian official denied an earlier report that Rouhani had tweeted a Rosh Hashanah greeting on Wednesday to Iranian Jews and Jews all over the world.
“Mr. Rouhani does not have a tweeter account,” presidential adviser Mohammad Reza Sadeq was quoted by Iran’s Fars news agency as saying on the matter.
On Wednesday, Jews around the world received an unexpected holiday greeting from someone claiming to be Rouhani, who took to his Twitter account to say, “As the sun is about to set here in #Tehran I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh Hashanah.”
As the sun is about to set here in #Tehran I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh Hashanah. pic.twitter.com/tmaf84x7UR
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 4, 2013
That account then tweeted a link to a Rosh Hashanah message in Farsi.
Congratulatory message on occasion of Rosh Hashanah in Persian http://t.co/riNlueSucy
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 5, 2013
Rouhani, elected in June, is considered by some to be a relative moderate compared to his predecessor, Ahmedinejad, who used speeches at the General Assembly to question the Holocaust and the official explanation that the September 11, 2001 terror attacks were caused by hijacked planes.
The Times of Israel Community.