Annan shocked by Iranian leader’s Holocaust denial

Reacting against Iranian leader’s reported Holocaust denial, Annan points to facts

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today reacted against the reported denial of the Holocaust by Iran’s President and urged all countries to educate their people about the well-established historical facts on the genocide.

“The Secretary-General was shocked to see the remarks attributed to H.E. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in which he reportedly cast doubt on the truth of the Holocaust and suggested that the State of Israel should be moved from the Middle East to Europe,” a spokesman for Mr. Annan said in a statement.

Last month, the General Assembly passed a resolution which rejects “any denial of the Holocaust as an historical event, either in full or in part,” the Secretary-General recalled, urging all Member States “to combat such denial, and to educate their populations about the well established historical facts of the Holocaust, in which one third of the Jewish people were murdered, along with countless members of other minorities.”

In today’s statement, the spokesman also recalled Mr. Annan’s reaction in late October to the Iranian President’s reported call for Israel to be wiped off the map.

On that occasion, Mr. Annan stressed that Israel is a long-standing UN Member with the same rights and obligations as every other Member, and that, under the Organization’s Charter, all Members have undertaken to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State.

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