US says Iranian Holocaust conference 'disgraceful'

Washington, Dec 9: The United States denounced as ''disgraceful'' Iranian plans to hold a conference that will question whether the Nazis used gas chambers to kill Jews during the Holocaust.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caused outrage last year when he said the Holocaust -- in which six million Jews were killed by the Nazis -- was a myth. He has not repeated the remark but has said the Holocaust is open to question.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mohammadi was quoted by an Iranian newspaper this week as saying the meeting, which begins on Monday, would examine issues ''including whether the gas chambers were actually used by Nazis.'' The State Department, which is under pressure to talk to Iran about quelling the violence in Iraq, was unsparing it its criticism of the conference, which Mohammadi said would gather 67 researchers from Britain, Germany, France and elsewhere.

''As I understand it, this meeting is really focused on highlighting those people who deny that there was, in fact, a Holocaust. So in that regard, it's just yet another disgraceful act on this particular subject by the regime in Tehran,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters yesterday.

''It is just flabbergasting that they continue, that the leadership of that regime continues, to deny that 6 million plus people were killed in the Holocaust,'' he added.

Reuters