Stockholm - The European Union on Sunday strongly condemned comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denying the Holocaust. "The presidency of the European Union condemns statements by President Ahmadinejad at the Quds Day rally in Tehran, where he repeated denials of the Holocaust and of the right to exist of the state of Israel," the EU statement said.
"Such statements encourage anti-Semitism and hatred. We call on the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran to contribute constructively to peace and security in the Middle East."
Ahmadinejad on Friday called the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis a "fairy tale" and urged continued resistance against Israel's "Zionist regime."
"The Holocaust is a false claim, a fairy tale, used as a pretext for crimes against humanity," the Iranian president told an anti- Israel rally in Tehran.
If the Holocaust was true, then it was committed by Europeans who should, therefore, also be responsible for compensation, he said.
Iran does not recognize Israel and considers its government as the main root of all problems in the Middle East. "Even the crises in Afghanistan, Iraq and even Sudan are a plot by the Zionists," Ahmadinejad said.
