Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif vehemently denied on Monday reports that he is opposed to a second Holocaust of Jewish people, according to Iranian media reports.
Some media outlets reported over the weekend that Zarif had stated, the "Holocaust should not happen again" and that "the extermination of Jews by the Nazi regime was tragically cruel and should not happen again."
However, Zarif maintains that this is not the case, according to top Iranian lawmakers who have spoken to the foreign minister about his remarks.
This is just the latest example of a top Iranian political figure being forced to clarify their controversial position on the Holocaust. Many Iranian leaders have denied the Holocaust and have called for the destruction of Israel.
"Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi rejected the media reports about Zarif’s statements as untrue," Iran’s state run Fars News Agency reported on Monday.
"In a phone conversation that I had with Mr. Zarif, he completely rejected the remarks attributed to him and declared that the Islamic Republic’s stance about the (Zionist) regime is what has been repeatedly announced by the country’s diplomacy apparatus and this stance has not changed," Fars quoted Qashqavi as saying.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has stated in the past that Iran will "support and help everyone who opposes the Zionist regime."