On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the website for Ali Khamenei, the dictator of the Islamic Republic of Iran, posted a video in which he expresses doubts about the Holocaust.
The video, titled, “Are The Dark Ages Over,” begins by showing scenes of what appears to be Arab citizens in desolate conditions. It displays graphic photos of injured and dead children, along with grieving parents, blaming the “Zionist regime” for the loss of lives in the Islamic world.
“Who assists the fake Zionist regime,” Khamenei asks in the video released to the public on January 27, coinciding with International Holocaust Remembrance Day. “Who supports them?”
“Who clears the road for them? Who stands behind them,” Khamenei says, with pictures of Israeli soldiers appearing in the background. “It is western powers—headed by America—that are doing so,” he adds.
“This is while they say in their slogans that they are opposed to terrorism and ISIS,” the Islamic dictator continues, as the video displays a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, followed by a photo of U.S. President Barack Obama.
“They are lying,” the Supreme Leader says of Western claims. “They say things which are not true. This is ignorance.”
Then, Khamenei openly declares his doubts about the Holocaust and the Nazi’s killing of six million Jews.
“No one in European countries dares to speak about holocaust,” he says in the video.
“While it is not clear whether the core of this matter is a reality or not, even if it is a reality, it is not clear how it happened,” Khamenei adds.
“Speaking about holocaust and expressing doubts about it is considered to be a great sin,” he observes. “If someone does this, they stop, arrest, imprison, and sue him.”
“This is while they claim to be the supporters of freedom. This is the ignorance that exists in today’s world. We should be awake. You dear brothers, dear people of Iran, Muslims in the great Islamic Ummah, and officials in different countries, should know that we can stand up against the ignorance,” Khamenei says, concluding his rant.
Khamenei is not the only top Iranian official to openly deny or question the Holocaust. “Moderate” officials, such as President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, have also expressed doubts about Nazi Germany’s genocidal campaign against the Jews.