Israel’s envoy at the U.N. has urged the global body to deny Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi a platform with which to address the upcoming General Assembly, a day after the Iranian president cast doubt on the Holocaust and called Israel a “false regime’ in an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes.
“Shocking to hear Iranian President Raisi’s remarks calling into question whether the Holocaust happened. I call on @antonioguterres to DENY THAT DENIER a world stage to spread antisemitism and hatred,” Ambassador Gilad Erdan tweeted.
“The U.N. will reach a new low if they give the Butcher of Tehran a platform,” he added.
“The Butcher of Tehran” moniker came about for role Raisi has played in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in the late 1980s, for which the U.S. sanctioned him.
On Sunday night, a day before he left for New York, CBS aired Raisi’s first-ever interview with a Western reporter, 60 Minutes’ Lesley Stahl.
Stahl asked Raisi: “Do you believe the Holocaust happened? That 6 million Jews were slaughtered?”
Raisi answered, “Historical events should be investigated by researchers and historians. There are some signs that it happened. If so, they should allow it to be investigated and researched.”
Stahl then said, “So you’re not sure, I’m getting that you’re not sure. What about Israel’s right to exist?” Raisi didn’t argue.
Raisi continued by blasting Israel, which he called a “false regime,” and U.S. support for it.
“The Americans are supporting this false regime there to take root and to be established there,” he said.
Asked about the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords, in which several Arab nations normalized ties with Israel, the Iranian president replied:
If a state shakes hands with the Zionist regime, then they are also an accomplice to their crimes. And they are stabbing the very idea of Palestine in the back.
Last year, the E.U. sent a top representative to attend Raisi’s presidential inauguration, prompting an outcry in Israel.
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