The Iranian Holocaust denial conference, "Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision" convened by the Iranian Foreign Ministry in Tehran December 11-12, 2006, brought together a diverse group of anti-Semites, including white supremacists and neo-Nazis, radical anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists, and Islamic fundamentalists.  The gathering included racists such as David Duke, former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, and notorious Western anti-Semites and known Holocaust deniers, as well as members of Neturei Karta, a fringe anti-Israel Jewish group that advocates the "dismantling" of the Jewish state of Israel.

Though the organizers insisted that their aim was only to scientifically investigate the history of World War II, the guests and speeches were universally devoted to either denying that Jews were the victims of genocide under the Nazis or to de-legitimizing the State of Israel.  Not a single scholar of the mainstream field of Holocaust Studies was present.  And no Israelis were permitted to attend.  Sessions on "Holocaust demography" were interspersed with invectives against "Jewish supremacism" and "apartheid Zionism."

The conference shows that Iran is intent both on embracing the hateful ideology of Holocaust denial and giving credibility to the deniers themselves.  Iran is sending signals that it aims to position itself as the new nexus of Holocaust denial in the Muslim world.  This is happening in a neighborhood that not only lends it support, but gives aid and comfort to Holocaust deniers and anti-Semites.