"Holocaust not our business," says Iranian speaker

Feb 15, 2009, 11:56 GMT

Tehran - The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, has distanced himself from previous remarks made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and said that the Holocaust was 'not of Iran's business,' the daily Etemad Melli reported Sunday.

Since his presidency began in August 2005, Ahmadinejad has publicly doubted the historic dimensions of the Holocaust and hoped for eradication of Israel from the Middle East - causing widespread international condemnation.

Reformist and even conservative circles have criticized the president, saying such remarks have merely pushed Iran futher into international isolation.

'As far as this issue is concerned, there are several standpoints but it is not of our business,' the daily quoted Larijani as saying.

The speaker, who is heading a new conservative faction in the parliament critical of the president's policies, said it was 'unfortunate' that the Holocaust happened but it was also unfortunate that the evaluation of the issue has been made a taboo.

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has not acknowledged Israel as a sovereign state and even refrained from using the name Israel and instead constantly referred to the Jewish state as the 'Zionist regime.'

The tensions reached a peak in recent years when Ahmadinejad started his anti-Israel tirades, calling the Holocaust a 'fairy tale.'

Tehran was also host of a conference on the Holocaust in Tehran in December 2006 which was attended by renowned anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi figures.