US Holocaust museum: Iranian authorities back Holocaust cartoon event

The US Holocaust Memorial Museum is challenging a claim by the Iranian foreign minister that Iranian government authorities had nothing to do with a Holocaust cartoon contest.

“The organizations associated with the contest are sponsored or supported by government entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Tehran Municipality, and the Ministry of Islamic Guidance,” the museum says in a statement.

Organizers say the competition, which focuses on Holocaust denial, is designed to highlight the world’s double standard in defending caricatures of the Muslim prophet Mohammed, whose depiction is forbidden in Islam.

“Previous contests in 2006 and 2015 have had the endorsement and support of government officials and agencies,” the museum says. “There are reports in the Iranian press that the Ministry of Culture is asserting its support for the upcoming contest.”

Javad Zarif last week told the New Yorker that his government “does not support, nor does it organize, any cartoon festival of the nature that you’re talking about.”

He said the festival was organized by a non-governmental organization “that is not controlled by the Iranian government.”

In its statement, the Holocaust museum said it “urges global leaders to hold the Iranian government to Foreign Minister Zarif’s promise to deny visas to some contest participants and that neither he nor President Rouhani would attend the contest.”